A mother-of-three who was called a ‘black c***’ and told ‘black lives don’t matter’ by former Eastenders star Katie Jarvis during a drunken rant has said she is too stressed to work and is plagued by panic attacks.
Jarvis, 30, racially abused the woman after an argument broke out over a spare chair inside a fish and chip shop in Southend, Essex, on July 31, 2020.
Katie shouted “black lives don’t matter, I’m a celebrity – on and on and on. She called me and my daughters black c***s. I was so shaken up and angry, frustrated, upset, embarrassed.
‘As the court case came up, I was getting panic attacks, feeling stressed, thinking ‘oh my God, I wish that we didn’t have to go through this’.
‘I had to leave my work as a college student engagement officer, which I loved. Her sentence is a slap on the wrist. I thought she’d get something more than that.’
Jarvis was handed a two-year community order at Basildon Crown Court last month after admitting racially-aggravated harassment of Ms Antonio and common assault in relation to spitting at the bouncer.
She was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and issued a requirement to complete 60 days of specified activities.
Jarvis spoke outside the court to apologise ‘to the people in Southend that day’, saying she was full of ‘shame and regret’ over her actions.
But in reaction to her comments, Ms Antonio said: ‘Katie Jarvis claims she isn’t racist but when people are drunk, the truth comes out – and those words came out of her mouth. She made a public apology but not a personal one to me and I was the one that was being abused.