A Congressional candidate in Oklahoma has issued a grovelling apology after she allegedly unleashed a profanity-laced tirade on a group of adolescent girls at a Valentine’s Day slumber party.
Abby Broyles, a 32-year-old Democrat who worked as an Oklahoma City journalist and attorney before launching her congressional bid, landed in hot water after multiple parents complained about her behaviour at the party, which was being held by her friend from law school’s daughter and friends.
Ms Broyles initially denied the parents’ allegations before saying she is “deeply sorry” that a combination of wine and a sleeping pill had caused her to hallucinate and lose her memory of the night.
According to the girls’ parents, Ms Broyles not only used profane language while addressing the girls but also launched personal attacks about everything from ethnicity to acne as they gathered to watch The Titanic.
She allegedly brought girls to tears with insults including “acne f***er”, “Hispanic f***er” and “judgy f***er” before throwing up in a laundry hamper and in a girl’s shoe.
The story was first broken by online outlet NonDoc.com after Sarah Matthews, whose daughter attended the party, described some of Ms Broyles’ alleged actions in a Twitter thread.
“Since it’s been five days and you have neglected to reach out to any of the young ladies (12 & 13 yr olds, including my daughter) you verbally and emotionally abused last weekend, I thought I would give you a chance to try to apologize (at a minimum) here,” Ms Matthews wrote, tagging Ms Broyles.
“For someone who pontificates to be undyingly pro woman, I am disgusted by your behavior and find it appalling you couldn’t understand why their parents are angry. Your vile, cruel, and bigoted behavior should not be excused or ‘swept under the rug’.
“Not only did you scare and traumatize these beautiful girls with your words, you ruined a pair of their shoes with your vomit! (Which she saved up to buy with her own money!) Considering how much you bragged about how “rich and successful” you are to these children, surely you can afford to replace her shoes!”
Ms Broyles’ former employer, TV station KFOR, reported that the friend who invited her to the party “despises that this happened at her home and that she’d never seen Broyles like that in the past.”
In an interview with the station, conducted by her former colleague, Ms Broyles denied she had a substance abuse problem and insisted she had no memory of the night after mixing wine with a medication she’d never taken before. The drug was meant to help her with stress, anxiety and insomnia, she told KFOR.
“I had an adverse reaction; instead of helping me sleep, I hallucinated,” she said. “And I don’t remember anything until I woke up or came to – and I was throwing up in a hamper.
“I remember starting to hallucinate, and the rest is just blurry. I just remember opening my eyes, and I’d got sick ... and I didn’t know where I was. It was the most awful experience that I’ve had.”
Ms Broyles initially denied attending the party but later claimed to KFOR that she’d been misquoted – despite the station hearing the taped conversation.
“First of all, I want to apologise to the families again, and for people who say I just blacked out and I’m making this up, you don’t know me. I never, ever would say something hurtful like those things – and that’s why I know I was not in my right mind,” she told KFOR.
“I know that’s what happened because of that combination of things, and I deeply, deeply regret it.”
She continued: “I want to say sorry from the bottom of my heart. I apologise for any hurt or damage or trauma that my behaviour, when I didn’t know what I was doing, caused. I don’t remember this episode at all.
When pressed about how the incident may have damaged her congressional bid, she said: “I deeply regret what happened because of the people it affected.
“I’ll be OK, no matter what happens, but as far as this campaign, I’m never going to stop fighting for Oklahoma, whether it’s in this race or fighting for the cause some other way.”
