Walmart has banned from all its stores a YouTuber who pretended to be the company’s CEO and fired an elderly Filipino worker in a viral prank video that drew flak.
But while Lauren Love has apologized to 67-year-old Maria Leones, whom she left crying after her prank at a Walmart store in Richmond, Texas, Love also defended herself.
“For video content we do stuff that people are going watch and that’s entertaining. So public experience [content] are literally only meant for entertaining,” Love said.
“But I did not mean for it to go the way it did. So I’m genuinely sorry. To the lady, if you’re watching this, I am really truly sorry. Honestly, I did not mean for you to get upset about it,” she added.
In an interview with Coconuts Manila, Leones’ daughter, Antonette Leones Ventura, said she contacted the media about the prank video because she “wanted the bullying to be exposed and stopped.”
“Lauren Love has taken down the [prank] video, and aired a lame apology where she justified what she did instead of truly apologize. My mom was asked by Walmart not to do any more interviews,” Ventura told Coconuts Manila.
“A very close friend of mine who did not take the issue lightly contacted multiple Walmart CEOs and she was informed yesterday that legal actions are now being made against Lauren Love,” she added. (Photo: Daily Dot)
