Amala Ekpunobi

This “Racist” Elevator Encounter Went Insanely Viral. One Problem: It’s Fake.

A video of an alleged Macy’s manager firing an employee for operating on “black time” in an elevator went mega-viral on multiple Internet platforms. Come to find out, it’s been proven fake according to Macy’s itself. Why do we keep falling for these fake videos? Let’s talk about it.

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Duration:: 13m
Broadcast on:: 21 Jun 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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All lowercase, that's Shopify.com/tech. >> You may have seen this viral video that's been circulating on the Internet of a racist incident taking place between a Macy's manager and a Macy's employee who's getting fired in an elevator. >> We're not running on black people, come on. >> This fueled a lot of outrage and had a lot of people calling out Macy's saying how dare they let somebody like this manage a store of theirs. Well, it turns out this video is not real. Let's talk about it. >> Yeah, you better. >> Guys, before we get into today's video, please like and subscribe. We post real videos on this channel. I am not a paid actor. I give you my real reactions, my real thoughts, my real opinions. And today we're going to talk about the fake that takes place on the Internet. And first, let's get into the video of this racist incident so you can see what others have been seeing if you're not quite up to date. >> I was like, that's not what I was like. >> Yeah, but I let you guys know I had a time that I was. >> Yeah, you could get over here. >> I had a family emergency. >> You could get over here, you're fine, you're fine. >> I had a family emergency. >> Give your name tag, give me that process. >> What? >> Don't be working anymore, yeah. >> I put my work in for this job, which I mean, I'm a lot more. >> You're not four hours too late, no, you're too late. >> I had a family emergency, my grandmother. >> Well, then you could tell someone, you don't just show four hours too late. >> I'm not fine, so can I get my track or something? >> Yeah, well, I'll mail it to you. >> I need money today then. If you guys want to find one for me, please. >> No, that's not fair. >> All right, that's not fair, I'm sorry. >> Okay, I pressed the lobby for you, keep it up there. >> Oh my God. >> Yes, you. >> Oh my God, no, I'm not, no. >> Yeah, we're not running on black people time. Get off the elevator. >> Excuse me, what? >> You heard me? >> I'm not there, this is in the ghetto, you don't take. >> Yeah, you don't take shit off of me. >> How about you give me your money then, how about that? >> I'm not just getting off of this. >> How about that? >> I don't have money, I'm not. >> No, how about that? How about that, give me your money? >> Gene, you're acting a fool. >> I don't care, you're being racist, what do you mean? >> I'm going to be racist. >> How about that? You want me acting? >> I told you. >> Do you act like a monkey? >> Like this is ridiculous. >> You said that obviously. >> And the Oscar goes to absolutely nobody, because what did I just watch? I've seen better acting on Star Wars the acolyte. And you guys know how I feel about that series. But nonetheless, people fell for this video and they thought it was real. I'll redo some of the comments underneath this ex post. He left frustration overwhelm him at the end and will pay a steeper price for it than she did for being a terrible employee. That conversation needed to happen in private, to be honest, they're both wrong. They should both be gone. Four hours late deserves a sack, end of story. They both need to be fired. Her for being four hours late, him for saying that and having the discussion in an elevator. And of course, the video circulated before anybody had a chance to figure out what was actually going on in this situation. People were calling out Macy's and saying that they should not have a racist manager working at one of their stores, saying that he was wrong for firing her after her grandmother died. Saying the employee saying that if her grandmother truly lost her life, it makes total sense to have a little bit of leniency when it comes to showing up late to work. And of course, you had many hop in and defend the manager saying it's totally understandable to be upset at an employee who showed up four hours late to work. And that his comment about running on black people time is something that black people say quite often and is in fact not racist. And all this back and forth on the internet, the outrage, the defending, the laughing at comments, the calling out to the strangeness of the situation was for nothing because the video turns out is fake. And how did we figure this out? Because of course Macy's was trying to defend their reputation. They're looking at these videos and corporate going, I don't know who the hell these employees are. And we need to start commenting on this. And this video had circulated on nearly every single social media platform. And Macy's took their main account and decided to respond calling out these two individuals for this created skit. On X, they write at Macy's, we value acceptance, respect and integrity and do not tolerate discrimination of any type. The employees featured in the video are not affiliated with or work at Macy's. They then go on to say, this is a stunt. The individuals featured in the video are not affiliated with or work at Macy's. And lastly, they say these are actors posing as Macy's employees. And I guess this video was circulating so much on so many different platforms that Macy's was essentially just copy and pasting this reply as many times as they could to let people know, hey, these guys do not work at Macy's. Don't let this bring down our store. Don't let them make you think that we hire racist managers or we have instances in HR violations like this happening in elevators. And the story doesn't stop there. Oftentimes when you see these skits, you feel a bit of fakeness to them. So you click the profile, you check out what's going on on this person's page and you'll find out that they're an individual who's just constantly creating all this different content. Sometimes it's rage bait, sometimes it's wholesome content, sometimes it's sad content. They'll fake people getting cancer, they'll fake altercations on a bus or in a school. They'll follow what people are talking about on the news and current events and trending topics. And then they'll then create these skits and stunts to access and manipulate you into commenting, giving them engagement, giving them views. And it works a lot of the time. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a video, watched it through, felt that something was a little bit off and then found out that a page was dedicated to creating these stunts. And sometimes there altercations like this in a Macy's or on an airplane or on a bus. Other times they're way worse than this. We'll get to that in just a moment. But first, let's finish unpacking this Macy situation. I found this TikTok that was explaining some of the characters that might have been involved in the creation of this video. See that username there of that actor? I reached out to him on Instagram. I sent him the video. I was like, hey, people are saying this is you. He says, looks like me, but no, man, I don't work for Macy's. Thanks for sharing now. I said the accusation isn't that you work for Macy's that you were doing a scene with her skit. And he goes, nah, not me. So to be clear, he says, not me. Although as that comment to Macy's alluded, they do in fact follow each other on TikTok. And that's something else we should focus on, her account on TikTok. Her name is stars 5 6 7 9, obviously that's not her real given name. But she has one. No, the name that she at least goes by is Zeta Pew. This is her Instagram. And she kind of got some headlines just a couple of years back for writing the subway with her pet duck, which is honestly kind of adorable. That's the first time she's been in the news though. There's also a 2017 where she got charged after this wannabe actress slash performance artist, which is how she described in articles, released a bunch of crickets on the subway as part of a performance piece. As part of a skit, I asked her about all of this and told her that Macy's is denying all of this. She said, you're going to believe Macy's just trying to sweep it under the rug. Again, it opens them up to a ton of stuff. They're just bold face lying and going, we don't know who any of these people are. But she said that from her account, this account, which again is interesting because it just got set up on June 6. That's when the very first video was posted. But why did you have to set up that account when you already had your account that's been around for a while? Why did you have to set up a separate account that didn't have your name on it, a name that's easy to Google and read articles. What's next most is this kind of stuff actually happens, and when you fake it and make this whole make-believe sketch, it makes it harder for people who actually have had it happen to them be believed. People say, oh, how do we know a person said that or did that to you? And even when it's on video, they go like, well, it could be just faked. So is she lying or telling the truth? Is Macy's lying or telling the truth? Who am I to know? I'd be interested to know what Macy's is going to do about it, though. People who came on their property and pretended to work for them and did this. Two customers right there, as well as putting it online and claiming it's very much real, and Macy says it's not. I'd be interested to see what that leads to. So there you go. It seems like this girl is known for her performance art. If that's what we want to call it, a duck on the subway, releasing crickets on the subway, and now a fake racist incident in an elevator in front of other customers of a Macy's. She's just yet another internet troll who's creating this ridiculous fake content to garner reaction and attention. Shocker. And this is so diabolical for many reasons, one, because when real acts of racism and discrimination happen, who's going to know anymore with all the people who are creating these fake skits and stunts? On top of that, it just is warping our reality in what we watch and what we take in, and we're constantly watching fake content that means nothing and having real visceral reactions to it that lead us down a pathway of destruction over time. And part of that is on the people creating the content, of course, and there's so much of it on the internet. There's sad fake content, happy fake content, rage bait fake content, and it's constantly circulating. I saw a video the other day of a man supposedly being told that his cancer was in remission by his family. They're all crying their eyes out as a tearful yet joyous momentous occasion, and come to find out it's a skit. I've seen videos of dementia patients yelling at their daughters, hitting them, creating a scene. Turns out it's fake. We see people going off on each other on airplanes, fights being created out in the street, turns out they're fake. And more often than not, you can sort of tell that there's a phony nature to the videos, but sometimes you can't. And as people get better and better at creating this content, we need to get better and better and not trusting everything we see on the internet and verifying information. Because as part of the responsibility lies on the people creating this fake content, it also lies on us for taking it in and giving it time and attention. You can only have the wool pulled over your eyes so many times before it starts to become your fault. "Fold me once," says they say. And the amount of people that I see in the comments of these videos falling for it immediately really gets to me, y'all. It makes me question those who are living among us. Some of them, I understand, the acting's pretty good. I could see you falling for it for a moment. This one? How did people watch this and think that something real was going on? Y'all should not be able to serve on juries. Let me tell you that. And I can't help but think that a lot of this stems from our constant attachment to technology and this incessant need that we all have for entertainment and sometimes even outrage. People are becoming aware of this desire/demand that we have for these types of content. And instead of finding these real moments for you to, again, continue doom-scrolling on whatever platform you're on to take it all in, they say, "Let's take a shortcut, create skits." We'll get the same reaction, if not more, because we can make it more ridiculous than anything that would happen in real life and people will still fall for it. And that's how you give videos like this one, taking place in an elevator between a Macy's manager and a supposed Macy's employee who's getting fired. This is 10-amount to a race hoax, in fact, it's exactly that. And it's probably because we are so obsessed with race. Somebody who's willing to manipulate you is realizing that you're sensitive to this subject matter. In fact, that almost the entire world it seems is sensitive to this subject matter. And they're thinking, "Let's take advantage of that, let's make a video, and let's appeal to their sensitivity." It worked, and it will continue to work until we're capable of controlling our reactions, waiting, and having some amount of skepticism towards the things we see on the internet. So the next time you see a video on the internet, it makes you feel angry, sad, despondent, extremely happy. Think to yourself, "Has somebody recognized this desire in me and is currently manipulating it by creating a fake video?" And sometimes, I guarantee you, you'll be correct. Sorry for the somewhat cynical ending to this video, but it's the reality. This is what we're dealing with now. I would love to hear your thoughts on this guy, so drop them in the comments down below, as always, encourage healthy debates if you disagree with anything said in this video. Do get out, but do so respectfully. And if you like this video, like, subscribe, click the notification button to be notified every single comment post a video for you guys, which is every day, and I will see you next time. And it will be real, I promise. (upbeat music) (electronic music)