YouTube content creator Lauren Love brought a Texas Walmart employee named Maria Leones (pictured) to tears by posing as an executive and pretending to fire her in a video posted on Love’s channel
A YouTube content creator with more than one million subscribers has received backlash over bringing a Texas Walmart employee to tears by posing as an executive and pretending to fire her in a video posted on her channel.
Lauren Love, who runs a YouTube channel called Joel and Lauren TV, played the cruel joke on Maria Leones in a since-deleted video that was published on April 23, prompting comments criticizing her
Leones, whose husband recently underwent heart surgery according to Click2Houston, broke down in tears at the thought of losing her job at the Richmond super store.
Love and her partner have now been banned from all Walmart locations and have encountered a backlash on social media as a result of the cruel prank.
DailyMail.com has reached out to YouTube seeking comment regarding the video and is awaiting a reply.
Love’s followers were not a fan of the video, with several leaving negative comments about the stunt on her social media posts.
‘Your child must be so proud of you!!’ one person posted, with another commenting, ‘Such a good mom! [laughing emoji]’
Another wrote, apparently sarcastically, ‘Such a great role model for your kids.’
‘Hope your utube (sic) is down for good,’ posted another social media user.
Leones (right), whose husband (left) recently underwent heart surgery, broke down in tears at the thought of losing her job at the Richmond super store
Love closed the video taking to camera, saying, ‘I hope you guys enjoyed this video. It was honestly hilarious. It turned out really well.’ She added: ‘The last one was, honestly, I felt so bad. She started crying.’ Love’s followers didn’t agree though, with several leaving negative comments about the stunt on her social media posts
Another wrote, ‘hope your utube (sic) is down for good’ suggesting Love’s channel should be banned from YouTube’s platform
Walmart said it asked YouTube to remove the video, but it’s not clear whether the platform took it down or Love deleted in on her own.
‘This prank is offensive and the people responsible are no longer welcome in our stores,’ the company said in a statement.
‘We’ve taken actions on behalf of our associates, including asking YouTube to remove the video and calling their attention to the bullying nature of this hoax. Our associates work hard every day to serve our customers. They do a fantastic job, deserve better than being subjected to such disrespect, and will continue to have our full support.’
In the video, which was titled ‘CEO Firing People Prank IN THE HOOD (GONE WRONG),’ according to CBS, Love wore a blue Walmart smock and claimed to be CEO of the discount store.
In the video, Love wore a blue Walmart smock and claimed to be CEO of the discount store
Love and her partner have now been banned from all Walmart locations and have encountered backlash on social media as a result of the cruel joke. The two are pictured with their child
She was shown criticizing the work of several people and tell them they were fired, while praising others.
Leones, who worked in academia in Asia before coming to the U.S., was the last person addressed in the video.
‘Really, I was really so crushed, I felt so little, I felt so powerless,’ Leones said.
‘At that very moment, I felt so little, because back home I had a very good reputation because I’m a professor.’
In the video, Love confronts Leones while she’s at work, walking through aisles attending to the shelves.
Leones responds telling her she’s scheduled to work 9am to 6pm that day in the garden center, as the cashier.
‘You’re in the cashier? So wait, why are you over here?’ Love asks Leones, who then explains that the store policy is to stay busy with other tasks when customers don’t need assistance at the register.
Then, Love tells her that she’s the CEO of the store, and she doesn’t agree with that approach.
In the video, Love confronts Leones while she’s at work, walking through aisles attending to the shelves and asking her why she isn’t at the cash register
‘OK, well I’m the CEO of today, my dad used to own this Walmart specifically, but he actually doesn’t work with this one anymore so I’m actually taking over. And today I would prefer is you actually be over there,’ Love says, pointing to the cash register.
Leones says OK, and then Loves prods her, saying, ‘I don’t understand why you’re over here.’
As Leones starts to explain the policy again, Love tells her again she wants her at the register, to which Leones says simply, ‘Alright, thank you.’
Then, Love gets to the punchline of the prank, and says:
‘Actually, I’m gonna need to see your badge and your vest because you’re fired. You’re fired. I don’t appreciate you walking around here. You’re supposed to be at the cashier cashing people out. What if someone was looking around and they don’t see you because you’re busy over here?’
Love gets to the punchline of the prank, and says: ‘Actually, I’m gonna need to see your badge and your vest because you’re fired. You’re fired. I don’t appreciate you walking around here. You’re supposed to be at the cashier cashing people out. What if someone was looking around and they don’t see you because you’re busy over here?’
After a moment, Leones calmly tells her, ‘I have been here for six years. I have been doing my job very well. I’ve been recognized as employee of the month.’ As Leones says the last words, her voice breaks and she starts to cry
After a moment, Leones calmly tells her, ‘I have been here for six years. I have been doing my job very well. I’ve been recognized as employee of the month.’
As Leones says the last words, her voice breaks and she starts to cry.
‘At that moment, I thought about my husband,’ Leones said, recalling how she felt in the middle of the cruel joke, and her worry for the medical coverage she depends on from Walmart to help care for her husband of 43 years who recently underwent a quadruple bypass surgery after suffering a heart attack.
As Leones grows increasingly upset in the clip, Love breaks character and says, ‘I’m sorry, I did not mean to make your cry. You’re not fired, you’re not fired.’
Leones is so happy at this news, she hugs Love, still not realizing she’s posing as a CEO.
‘At that moment, I thought about my husband,’ Leones (left) said, recalling how she felt in the middle of the cruel joke, and her worry for the medical coverage she depends on from Walmart to help care for her husband (right) of 43 years who recently underwent a quadruple bypass surgery after suffering a heart attack
As Leones grows increasingly upset in the clip, Love breaks character and says, ‘I’m sorry, I did not mean to make your cry. You’re not fired, you’re not fired.’ Leones is so happy at this news, she hugs Love, still not realizing she’s posing as a CEO
Love closed the video taking to camera, saying, ‘I hope you guys enjoyed this video. It was honestly hilarious. It turned out really well.’
She added: ‘The last one was, honestly, I felt so bad. She started crying.’
Love claimed she felt so badly that she gave Leones $50, but Leones said that’s not true.
Love’s clip wasn’t exactly original. A search of ‘CEO firing people prank’ on YouTube turns up multiple similar videos with millions of views.
Leones said she’d like to tell people who perform these kinds of ‘social experiments,’ to ‘be careful, emotions can be so dangerous.’