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A small YouTuber said he was going to buy a homeless person a hot meal in a now-deleted video.
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In the clip, the YouTuber brings food to a man sitting on the street but then eats it himself.
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The video drew intense backlash from people who said it was cruel, even if it was staged.
A video that shows a YouTuber asking a man sitting on the street if he wants some food before returning with a meal and eating it in front of him has sparked intense backlash on social media.
The now-deleted video was posted by Trevon Sellers, who has a relatively small YouTube channel called whatsuptre, which has 8,800 subscribers. His videos typically involve public pranks, which have previously included knocking down boxes at a Girl Scout cookie stand before offering to buy 10 boxes, and walking through shops while wearing a Confederate flag.
In Sellers’ most recent video, which was reuploaded on Twitter by various users, receiving millions of cumulative views, the YouTuber can be seen standing outside a Wendy’s, discussing the topic of homelessness in Los Angeles, California.
“Today it’s my job to make sure there is one less hungry person on the streets,” he said.
The video then cut to show a man sitting on the sidewalk. Sellers asked if he could buy him a meal, which included a burger, fries, and a drink. Later on, the YouTuber returned to the man with the drink and a bag containing the food, saying, “I want you to enjoy this,” as he began to take the food out of the bag.
Sellers then unwrapped the burger and took a bite out of it, going on to slide the fries out of the packet and into his mouth.
“Alright, take care have a nice day,” he said, picking up the drink and walking away from the man.
When several well-known Twitter accounts, including the entertainment news outlet Dexerto and internet commentary account Drama Alert, shared the clip, referring to it as a “prank,” viewers were outraged and said the actions demonstrated by the YouTuber were cruel and an insult to homeless people.
“Man, the bolt of rage i just felt run through my body man… call this what it is, pure evil,” wrote one user.
“Filming buying someone food is already distasteful. But to eat it infront of his face and UPLOAD IT is disgusting. He deserves no grace,” another person wrote.
Sellers did not explicitly refer to the person in the video as homeless, and a number of Twitter users pointed out that the clip could have been staged, and that the man on the street in the video could have been a paid actor. However, many users added that they thought the sentiment behind the video was still morally wrong even if it was staged, accusing the YouTuber of posting the video to go viral for doing something controversial.
“This screams a ‘bit’ because I lack trust in anything I see online. However, if it’s true then this becomes a conversation of how far will people go to garner attention. This dude had to know it would receive this kind of reaction,” wrote one user.
On April 24, the entertainment and celebrity gossip website Hollywood Unlocked reported that Sellers made a statement via Instagram, saying the video was scripted and that the clip was taken out of context, as a full version shows Sellers coming back to the man and giving him a meal. Insider was unable to verify the existence of this statement as it appears that Sellers’ Instagram account has been deactivated. He did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Social media is increasingly being used to document injustices against unhoused people, bringing them to the attention of millions. In January, a clip of an art gallery owner who was caught spraying an unhoused person with water on film sparked intense backlash online after it went viral, and led to the owner making an apology.
Sellers’ video could be viewed as a subversion of the “random acts of kindness” trend on social media, where content creators film themselves buying something for, or handing gifts to, strangers. These strangers are often described as homeless by the content creators who post about them. The trend has become increasingly controversial and seen as performative, as some recipients of the acts of kindness have said they did not appreciate being targeted by these creators, nor did they consent to being filmed.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider’s Digital Culture team here.
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