The father of Stephanie Denaro’s children — who’s come to be known as “Bagel Karen” — has responded to her racist tirade against a Black bakery employee. In a now-viral video, Denaro accosted the Manhattan baker after refusing to wear a mask and called him a “bitch ass n***er” in front of her children.

Durven Dawes, who is a Black man and reportedly the children’s father, spoke about the incident with TMZ on Thursday (March 25).

“She’s responsible for her actions and she’s damag[ing] our children… by spitting poison out of her mouth,” he said. “I have a problem with everybody using that form of language. Even my own children.”

Dawes added that he is concerned for his children’s safety. However, he said that if Denaro could get “proper mental care and be monitored effectively” then she could possibly become less of a negative influence on their kids.

He also apologized to the bakery employee, Victor, on his family’s behalf.

“I hope you can forgive in your heart. I think you have it in your heart, man,” he said.

As reported by REVOLT, 38-year-old Denaro was filmed harassing employees at the Davidovich Bakery at Essex Market on Sunday (March 21). When one baker refused to serve her because she wasn’t wearing a mask, she called him a “bitch ass n***er.”

“Oooh. That’s what he is. A bitch ass n-word. I just said it. You heard it,” she continued.

A complaint about the incident was filed to police, TMZ reports. Later on Instagram, Denaro defended her racist language by saying that she has biracial children and claiming to be Black herself.

“Can’t be racist if I have Black children,” she captioned one post.

Speaking with PIX11, Denaro said the racist slur is a term “people of all different ethnicities and races use.”

“Is it ok if their father [uses that word] when he’s talking about people he knows?” she asked. “Their father is Black. It doesn’t matter that the children are hearing it.”

Denaro also claimed that “if a Black woman was using that same phrase that I used, nobody would be making a big deal about it.”

See TMZ’s interview with her children’s father below.