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 have typically involved 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 and received 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 cuts 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, took a bite out of it, and started eating the fries.
“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 Dexerto, an entertainment-news outlet, and the 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,” one user wrote.
“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 man 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 said the sentiment behind the video was still morally wrong even if it was staged, accusing the YouTuber of posting the controversial video in order to create a reaction and go viral.
“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,” one user wrote.