Ireland’s Denise Olin watched ‘The Color Purple’ 2 months before going viral 

“The Color Purple”

Denise Olin, 59, of Sawtelle Japantown, Los Angeles, California, United States is originally from Ireland. On December 27, 2023, she and a friend watched “The Color Purple” before having dinner at the Italian restaurant Eataly in Los Angeles.

Written by Marcus Gardley and directed by Blitz Bazawule, the film is based on Alice Walker‘s 1982 novel of the same name. It is about an African-American girl who is sexually abused by her father in Georgia, USA in the 1900s.

In the film, which was released in the U.S. on December 25, 2023, the girl is played by Fantasia Barrino with Phylicia Peal Mpasi playing the younger version. Deon Cole plays the father.

Joining Barrino, Mpasi and Cole in the cast are Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R. and Halle Bailey. Whoopi Goldberg makes a cameo appearance as a midwife.

Denise Olin

Olin finished college in Dublin, Ireland. Aside from Los Angeles, she has lived in other parts of California including Malibu.

With a diploma in secretarial and business studies, Olin worked as an office manager, an administrative assistant and an executive assistant. In January 2010, she became a Robert Half employee.

In Olin’s Facebook page, she described herself as an animal lover. She has a dog named Wilson.

On February 7, 2024, an Asian dog walker asked Olin to leash her dog on Butler Avenue in Los Angeles. The Irish woman refused to comply.

“Omg I must have “pick on me” antenna”, Olin wrote in a text message to a neighbor later that day. “Just got verbally attacked by this nut case because W was off leash. She’s another Asian broad from the palm tree building. She called me a bitch. I was just sitting on the wall with w in front of me.”

On February 24, 2024, the Asian dog walker Olin encountered on February 7, 2024 asked her again to leash her dog while they were on Butler Avenue in Los Angeles. In response, the Irish woman told the dog walker to go back to China.

A video of the racist remarks went viral. Afterwards, Olin made all her social media accounts private.