Owning Manhattan star Jade Shenker fiercely slammed for ‘tone deaf’ comment about the homeless

Owning Manhattan star Jade Shenker has been blasted for the ‘out of touch’ comments she made about the homeless population in New York City in a now-viral TikTok video.

Shenker, 29, rose to reality TV fame in 2024 after she starred on Netflix’s Owning Manhattan, which chronicles the real estate agents working at Ryan Serhant’s firm in New York City.

Now, in a new video posted to TikTok, Shenker was caught in a man-on-the-street interview by an organization called Girls Who Sublet, which was later reposted to the Instagram account @ohana_nyc.

Girls Who Sublet connects females who are looking for places to stay in The Big Apple. 

In the interview, Shenker was asked what the ‘minimum amount’ she thinks that people need to make in New York City in order to live comfortably. 

‘I feel like the homeless people on the street are pretty comfortable, too, so you don’t really have to make anything,’ she quipped during the interview.

In response, Shenker was slammed by social media users, who branded her comment as ‘horrifying’ and ‘disgusting.’

‘This is horrifying,’ one user wrote in a comment on TikTok.

Another agreed: ‘That’s a pretty disgusting comment for a real estate agent to make.’

‘This is genuinely scary and uncanny,’ someone else typed.

A different user seconded: ‘This isn’t funny at all for many reasons.’

‘As someone that’s actually been homeless, no it’s not comfortable. I had a car and it was still horrible. I cannot imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have to carry everything you own with you at all times,’ another TikTok user wrote. 

Someone else admitted: ‘I cannot believe this is reality.’

‘She is out of touch,’ read a different comment. 

In response to the backlash, Shenker shared a statement on her Instagram Stories, sharing that she is ‘taking responsibility’ for her actions.

‘Over the past couple of days, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on a comment I made in a recent street interview,’ the reality TV star began.

‘I was asked how much money everyone needs to make to live comfortably in New York,’ her message continued.

‘The point I was trying to make was that I don’t believe a person’s worth or whether they deserve to live in this city is defined by how much money they make. 

‘Unfortunately, I expressed that in a way that was insensitive and I completely understand why so many people were upset. 

‘Regardless of my intention, my words came across as dismissive of an issue that affects thousands of people every day, and for that, I’m genuinely sorry.’

‘This experience has reminded me that words matter, and that intent doesn’t erase impact. I’m not asking anyone to excuse what I said. I’m taking responsibility for it, I’m learning from it, and I’ll do better moving forward,’ Shenker concluded. 

Ezra Gershanok, the co-founder of Ohana, told the Daily Mail that the organization ‘does not endorse the statements that were made.’

‘Ohana and the Girls Who Sublet community were created to make housing in NYC more affordable, accessible, and safe,’ Gershanok told the Daily Mail.

‘We’re proud to reach millions of people through our street interviews but we do not endorse the statements that are made. We are committed to addressing the largest problem for our generation: affordability.’

In June 2024, Shenker, who has a reported net worth of $8 million, told The New York Post that she works ’85 to 90 hours per week.’

‘I have lots of international clients in different time zones and I work best at night when my phone isn’t blowing up,’ she told the outlet at the time.

‘I have a $1 billion-dollar sale on my vision board. The commission for that is somewhere between $5 to $10 million,’ she said.