People it’s okay to mind your own business.
These days it seems like (especially for black people) it’s hard to be left alone. From Permit Patty to Pool Patrol Paul to the infamous Barbecue Becky, it seems as if we have to stay in our homes all day just to be unbothered.
For a family in Houston they were doing just that (not bothering anyone) when an unexpected millionairess showed up and ruined their daughter’s precious moment.
Kelyn and Isaiah Allen, of Houston, TX, were celebrating their daughter Anja’s 1-year old birthday at The Esplanades of Broadacres, a popular and PUBLIC Houston city park recently.
While the Allen’s were taking photos of their daughter, Franci Neely, the ex-wife of current Houston Astros owner Jim Crane walked up to the family and began shouting at them to remove themselves from the walk way.
Neely, who divorced from Crane in 2015 received $30 million, is a well-known socialite in the Houston area and attorney who sits on multiple boards in the Houston area, including the Museum of Fine Arts.
Neely then proceeded to remove the decorations and baby’s blanket off the walkway making the Allen’s daughter, Anja visibly upset. Mrs. Allen begins to understandably shout at Neely, saying,
“You’re making my child cry. Keep doing it.” Yelling, “Shame on you,”
as Neely removes the blanket and birthday balloons. Mr. Allen, then confronts Neely after she had called his wife “crazy” and says, “You’re crazy!”
Neely then proceeded to physically assault Mr. Allen, slapping him multiple times. After dragging the blanket off of the PUBLIC sidewalk Neely headed back to her Jaguar (all of this while being barefoot and carrying her Pomeranian) and Ms. Allen, shouted out,
“Shame on you. You’re racist!”
Needless to say the episode visibly shook the entire Allen family as Mr. Allen filmed the chaos.
What makes the episode all the more bizarre is that even after Neely provided an empty apology in which she said,
“I am very sorry I got upset. It’s hard to remain composed when confronted by shouted threats of lawsuits, and false inflammatory accusations,”
she still blames the Allen’s for setting up the photo shoot.
For the record it has not been confirmed that the Allen’s were threatening lawsuits, false accusations, etc. toward Neely during the incident.
According to the Houston Press, the Allen’s confirmed that they did not break the law by taking photos on the walkway.
What makes this story worse is the fact that this is not the first time Neely has behaved this way.
In 2018 she confronted students taking pictures on the same walkway for their prom. Houston native Mario Montemayor stated Neely confronted his daughters and their friends while taking prom photos. He said,
“I still feel violated that someone could just come up to you. They didn’t like where you were. It was a free space. It was disturbing. I don’t think she committed a crime, but she was very rude. I’m not asking for an apology, but it’s disturbing we can’t walk in a free space.”
Another incident involving Neely reportedly took place in the same area just two years ago when a couple was attempting to take photos together. That couple also did not break the law by taking photos on the walkway.
Clearly, Franci thinks her $30 million buys her the right to bother unsuspecting people for no good reason at all.
What’s the lesson here boys and girls?
If the family who is taking photos for a couples’ night out, the daughter and friends prom or their 1-year old daughter’s birthday on a public sidewalk isn’t bothering you, then you don’t have to bother them.
It makes life so much better.
Flip the pages to see more of Neely’s bad behavior and Twitter’s reaction.