Supporters have joined forces to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for a hardworking father of four who became the target of a cruel prank recorded on video.
The clip was first posted in August on a page that has since been deleted, but recently went viral after being shared widely across social media.
In the video, a Red Baron employee later identified as Walt Z in an online fundraiser is stocking shelves at a Michigan grocery store when the person filming approaches and asks him for the time.
As Walt pulls out his phone to check, the prankster takes out a phone of his own and plays the Apple Pay sound, pretending to take money from the worker.
‘Dude, thank you, bro. I just took $10,’ the prankster says.
Walt initially remains calm, telling him, ‘Don’t mess with me right now.’ But the person recording continues to taunt and provoke him in an apparent attempt to trigger a reaction.
When Walt begins to grow visibly upset, the prankster tells him to calm down and repeats, ‘It’s just a joke.’
Walt responds: ‘It’s not a joke to me… My life is hard enough as it is.’ His voice starts to tremble as he continues: ‘I got kids at home that went to bed without me. I was supposed to be at home an hour ago, and I’m still out here working!’
A Red Baron employee and father of four was the subject of a cruel prank by an attention-hungry Instagrammer, whose video of the prank went viral and faced backlash
The prankster played an Apple Pay chime near the employee’s phone and pretended to take $10, then continued prodding the man to get a reactionÂ
The worker then shouted: ‘And I gotta get up at five in the morning and do 10 more stores! So this is not a joke to me!’
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‘And now I’m probably gonna get kicked out of the store because of you,’ he then said before the person recording replied: ‘Okay, I’m sorry.’Â
‘No, you’re not sorry because you’ve got a smug look on your face,’ Walt said. ‘You’re probably making money off this! I can’t even pay my goddamn mortgage, and I got four kids at home!’
People online overwhelmingly responded with sympathy for the hardworking father and called out the prankster, with many calling him a ‘wannabe influencer’ and a ‘punk.’
One viewer named Luke Oakenshield was moved enough to create a fundraiser for Walt on Tuesday, even though he did not know the man.
‘This fundraiser is about standing up for a working person who is busting their butt and should not have to fear losing stability because someone wanted content and clicks,’ Oakenshield wrote on the fundraising page.Â
‘I do not know the worker personally and am actively searching for his contact information so I can make sure he receives the funds directly,’ he added.Â
In an update posted on Wednesday, Oakenshield said the employee was found. ‘Walt Z out of Michigan sends a heartfelt thankyou, and is absolutely blown away by how much people have cared over this,’ the organizer wrote.Â
The worker initially responded calmly, but later became upset and said he was working late and his kids had to go to bed without himÂ
A fundraiser for the worker, identified as Walt Z, has raised more than $330,000 from sympathetic viewers online
‘They are requesting privacy, and GoFundMe is taking the lead in transferring all of this to him.’Â
As of Thursday evening, the fundraiser has garnered more than $330,000 from more than 8,500 people.
A spokesperson for Red Baron’s parent company, CJ Schwan’s, told the New York Post: ‘We are aware of the video circulating on social media involving one of our Direct Store Delivery employees during an incident that occurred in August.
‘Following the incident, we connected directly with our team member to check on his well-being, and we continue to offer our support. We are pleased to share that he is doing well and remains a valued member of our team.’Â
Our News Outlet has reached out to CJ Shwan’s for additional comment and information about Walt and his reaction to the support he received. Â
