The Ole Miss student who fessed up to making racist monkey noises and gestures outside an apartment shared by three black students has temporarily abandoned her studies, The Post has learned.
Alaina Kunes, 18, has voluntarily withdrawn from the university, a spokesperson for her lawyer confirmed on Tuesday – adding that she was not suspended or asked to leave the Oxford campus.
The announcement came just hours after Kunes issued a public apology for the hateful, caught-on-camera stunt, which has been seen by almost 13 million people since it was shared on TikTok by student Jakiyra Metcalf over the weekend.
“To the women I offended and to the Ole Miss community, I sincerely apologize,” Kunes, who was one of three women seen in the video, wrote in a statement released earlier Tuesday.
“Before the incident on November 6, I never met the women involved and was unaware of their race. However, I recognize my actions were insensitive, inappropriate, and deeply harmful.
“I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color,” the coed claimed, and added that she had personally apologized to the insulted women.
Kunes – whose father, Scott Kunes, is the former COO of the Wisconsin-based Kunes Auto Group – wrote that she and her family have received death threats and faced harassment ever since she was identified online as one of the video subjects.
Her dad’s former employer, which owns some 50 dealerships across four Midwestern states, has also come under fire in the wake of the viral video.
The company was previously the subject of protests after a black customer said the N-word was printed on her service sticker when she went to get her oil changed at a Wisconsin Kunes location in February 2025.
Earlier this year, another Kunes customer reportedly complained that a salesman sent her a racist text message featuring a photo of a dancing ape wearing a bathing suit.
