A Toronto-based model claims she was expelled from an Uber ride after the driver discovered her Jewish heritage.
The incident, initially covered by the National Post, has since gained wider attention.
Miriam Mattova, 33, shared her experience with Fox News Digital on Monday. She recounted that she was traveling via Uber on Dundas Street in Toronto on November 30 when she began FaceTiming a friend about a recent mission trip to Israel.
According to Mattova, the female driver suddenly hit the brakes and insisted she exit the vehicle at a congested intersection.
Miriam Mattova pictured during her mission trip with Israel Friends on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Miriam Mattova)
“I immediately ended my call and inquired why the car stopped so suddenly,” Mattova explained. “The driver said they felt uncomfortable with me in the vehicle. When I asked for further clarification, they responded that they don’t drive Jewish people.”
An Uber spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the company has reached out to both parties as part of its review of the incident.
“We’re sorry for the experience this rider reported. Discrimination has no place on our platform, and we take concerns like this very seriously. We’ve been in contact with both the rider and the driver to understand from each of them what happened and have taken appropriate action.”
The former Miss Slovakia and Canadian national said she and the friend who booked her Uber filed detailed complaints with the company after the incident unfolded.
“Canada has always been a place I believed in. That’s the reason why I moved back here. And welcoming, diverse, respectful. And we all share responsibility to ensure it stays that way. And speaking up isn’t about me playing a victim role. I just want to make that very clear. It’s about drawing a line and standing in our truth and inspiring that hatred against any religion or community, not just the Jewish people,” said Mattova. “And I think that every incident like this should have consequences, in this case for the driver and for the large company, called Uber.”
Miriam Mattova attends the Yorkville Jewish Center Appreciation Gala on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Miriam Mattova)
Her lawyer, Howard Levitt, told Fox News Digital that his client is seeking an apology, the driver’s termination, a donation to an Israeli charity of her choosing, and a requirement that all Uber drivers acknowledge a no-discrimination policy going forward.
“We’ve demanded they terminate the relationship with the driver, and they’ve refused to respond to that at all. They claim privacy, which is absolute nonsense,” Levitt said. “First of all, no one even knows the driver’s name, so there’s no privacy issue. And secondly, most decent companies are anxious to tell the world that they would fire someone like that.”
Miriam Mattova visits a memorial at the Nova music festival site in November 2025. (Miriam Mattova)
Mattova traveled to Israel in early November to witness the horrors of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel. She visited Kibbutz Be’eri and spoke with former hostage Ofir Engel, who was kidnapped along with his girlfriend’s father.
She told Fox News Digital that this is not the first antisemitic incident she has faced in Canada, and wants people to “stand tall and address modern antisemitism.”
