Black Woman Finds Stuffed Monkeys and Other ‘Racist’ things Hanging Throughout Her Airbnb

We all know the feeling of walking into your newly booked Airbnb after a long day of travel. You expect to be welcomed by the comfortable decor and cute welcome message left by the hosts.

But for this Airbnb guest, a relaxing stay in Virginia quickly turned into something reminiscent of the 1800s when she entered the spot and was immediately surrounded by cotton. Yes...that type of cotton.

Erica W, known as @tasteofmelanin on TikTok, took to the app to show her followers the Airbnb she booked last week. In the video, Erica called it “Southern Airbnb Core” as she showed the house’s decorations including bouquets made of cotton, cotton branches, cotton wreaths...and even more cotton.

One of the especially disturbing parts of the decor was the unnecessary amounts of stuffed monkeys hanging from plants and cotton branches. Clearly, the Airbnb host didn’t consider the racial implications of the aesthetic (or maybe they did...?), and commenters on the video quickly called out the host and Airbnb for allowing “racist” decor on the site.

TikTok user @seesee.rose advised Erica to “Report to Airbnb IMMEDIATELY”

Another user, @maryjanexx.x, said “not the GET OUT sequel set up 😩😭”

User @kamesha.xx333 wrote “The way my jaw dropped 🤯😲”

The video has now reached 2.2 million views on TikTok and has over 5,000 replies. Most of them shocked by the decor, and some are urging Erica to report it to Airbnb. Since the video was posted last week, Erica updated the public, saying Airbnb reached out to her directly and has taken the listing down.

Even though the listing has been removed, many say this is just another example of the state of the nation.

@lowk3y.briiii replied “There’s no way it’s just decorated like that … this was done just for yall”

Another user, @Mango89012, insisted the listing’s choice to decorate was “very intentional.”

Erica assured concerned viewers that she made it home safe. Airbnb has not publicly addressed the matter.