By Inga Parkel

Copyright independent

Starbucks has issued a statement clarifying its company policy after an employee “refused” a customer’s request to write Charlie Kirk’s name on their cup.

The murder of 31-year-old Kirk, a right-wing political activist, on September 10 has further polarized an already divided nation and sparked fierce debate about free speech across the country.

In a now-viral TikTok video, a woman claimed that “Starbucks refused to write or say Charlie Kirk’s name. I never went in talking about politics, just mentioned his name to have it written on my cup to honor him.”

The clip shows the woman entering a California-based location of the popular coffee chain to order a Mint Majesty tea with two honeys — Kirk’s preferred Starbucks drink.

When asked for a name for the order, the woman tells the barista, “The name is Charlie Kirk.”

“We can’t do political names, but it [the register] didn’t even ask for a name to begin with so it’s going to be $3.75,” the barista responds with a smile.

The woman then fires back, asking: “Well, can’t you write the name on the cup?”

“I could write ‘Charlie?’” the barista replies, with the woman questioning why she can’t write the full name.

“Because it’s political,” the worker explains, before the woman tells her to “forget it. I don’t want it.”

“The barista walked over to my husband and handed him the drinks instead of using the name ‘Charlie,’” the woman added in the post’s caption. “She is the one who brought up ‘politics’ if she would have said ‘okay’ then written the name, no politics would have been mentioned.”

Starbucks has since released a statement in regard to the social media uproar about their supposed policy — throwing the barista who wouldn’t write Kirk’s name under the bus in the process.

“There are no restrictions on customers using Charlie Kirk’s name on their order, and we are following up with our team,” the company said Tuesday.

The chain followed up the next day with a lengthier statement, which read: “Starbucks is a company built on human connection. Having a name, rather than a number, attached to a customer order has been a core part of the Starbucks coffeehouse experience for decades.

“Most customers use their own name. And when a customer wants to use a different name — including the name Charlie Kirk — when ordering their drink in our café, we aim to respect their preference,” it continued.

“Over the years, we have had instances where some people have tried to abuse the system. For example, they’ve provided something that isn’t a name at all, but rather a political slogan with the aim of having our barista shout it out as they hand off the finished drink. And in some cases, as their ‘name,’ they have provided words that are sexually explicit or otherwise offensive.

“We aim to be a community coffeehouse where everyone feels welcome, so we have previously provided guidance to our partners to respectfully ask the customer to use a different name when attempting to use political slogans or phrases in place of their name. We are clarifying with our team now that names, on their own, can be used by customers on their café order, as they wish.”

The Independent has contacted Starbucks and the TikTok creator for additional comment.

Kirk’s alleged assassin, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah, has been officially charged with aggravated murder and six other counts, including obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Utah prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Robinson.

Officials say Robinson was radicalized online and subscribed to a “leftist” ideology, and that he had had enough of Kirk’s hatred, according to text messages he is claimed to have sent to his roommate.