A video showing a Westfield Bondi Junction dry cleaner saying, “I am a racist,” has triggered widespread anger online. Daily Mail can now reveal the incident allegedly started with an everyday request: a tissue to clean up a spill.
The Instagram creator who posted the clip, known as Melody, said she had been walking past Sew Smart Dry Cleaners and Alterations when a female staff member allegedly began berating her after she accidentally left a mess on the shopping centre floor.
“Wanting to clean it up as quickly as possible, I politely asked the nearest staff member at Sew Smart if she could give me some tissues so I could clean it up immediately,” Melody told the Mail.
“She [the woman at Sew Smart] refused in an incredibly rude and unfriendly manner and immediately started yelling for security.”
Melody said she and her friend then turned to Westfield’s cleaning staff, who came over and dealt with the area without delay.
As they waited, she alleged the Sew Smart worker remained at the shopfront, watching them with what Melody described as “an openly hostile and confrontational manner”.
“When we later passed the store again, she continued staring at us with the same hostile expression. I calmly questioned why she had been behaving so aggressively towards us despite us not having done anything to provoke her,” Melody said.
Melody claimed she then told the woman to stop staring at them and to “focus on doing your job” instead.
A video of a Westfield Bondi Junction dry cleaner declaring ‘I am a racist’ has sparked outrage
Melody claims the woman responded by hurling racist abuse.
Feeling threatened, she said she began recording the confrontation on her phone.
In the footage, the woman can allegedly be heard repeatedly declaring: ‘Yes! Yes! I am a racist.’
Melody further claims that while she was filming, the staff member swung a coat hanger towards her face.
‘I instinctively raised my hand to protect myself, and the coat hanger struck both my hand and my face. Throughout the entire incident, she continued verbally abusing me,’ she alleged.
Melody said she then contacted NSW Police, who attended the scene.
A NSW Police spokesperson told the Mail: ‘About 5.20pm on Thursday, 30 July 2026, police were called to a shopping centre on Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, following reports of an assault.
‘Officers attached to Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command attended and were informed that a woman had allegedly assaulted a 24-year-old woman following a verbal altercation.
When we visited the hole-in-the-wall dry cleaner on Thursday, the woman heard saying ‘I am a racist’ was nowhere to be seen. Instead, an Asian female staff member was behind the counter
‘Police have commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged assault.’
Despite not suffering any physical injury, Melody said the confrontation had left her deeply shaken.
‘This incident has caused me tremendous emotional distress. I simply went to Westfield for a normal shopping trip, yet I was subjected to racist abuse and physical aggression for no reason.
‘I felt shocked, humiliated and frightened, and I no longer felt safe in a place where people should be able to shop peacefully.
‘What disappoints me most is that something like this could happen in one of Australia’s largest and most well-known shopping centres.
‘As a Westfield customer, I believe everyone deserves to shop in a safe, respectful and inclusive environment, rather than being verbally abused and physically attacked because of their racial background.’
When the Daily Mail visited the tiny hole-in-the-wall dry cleaner on Thursday following the video’s viral spread, the woman heard declaring ‘I am a racist’ was nowhere to be seen.
NSW Police are investigating the incident at Westfield Bondi
Instead, an Asian female staff member was behind the counter.
She declined to comment on the incident but confirmed that staff were aware of the video.
A Westfield Bondi spokesperson said: ‘The safety and wellbeing of our customers, business partners and people is our highest priority.
‘Everyone deserves to feel safe, welcome and respected when visiting our Westfield destinations.
‘Security and Police attended the incident, and supported the customer involved.
‘This is a Police matter.’
