‘In the middle of her shift’: Supposed Walmart boss films worker’s soul-crushing firing, but her dignity exposes his complete moral bankruptcy

A viral video has been making the rounds online showing the heartbreaking moment a woman was fired from her Walmart job by her boss. The moment was captured on camera but not all is as it seems.

The out-of-context clip has been shared across multiple social media platforms, including X, Facebook, and YouTube, where it currently has 45 million views. It’s a short, 60-second video, in which we see an apparent boss at Walmart firing a worker on the shop floor.

Unfortunately seeing out of touch managers mistreat their staff is nothing new for the internet. His approach is somewhat cold and uncaring, as he tells her, “you’re fired.” He then demands her vest and name tag before telling her, “You can succeed elsewhere.”

Responses to the video on X instantly saw people taking the side of the employee who was fired. Many commended her for maintaining her composure and dignity during the heartless firing. One person wrote, “It’s rare to find such kindness in moments of adversity.” Despite the hurtful comments made by the manager, she continued to smile. Others called out the boss for being needlessly cold and heartless.

All is not as it seems

While the 60-second snippet may have garnered attention in the last week after it was posted to YouTube by Peakzmotivation, the original clip comes from YouTuber Cassady Campbell and was uploaded to YouTube in 2019. The video is titled “CEO FIRING PEOPLE PRANK! PT 2” and is just 13 minutes of this “prankster” dressed in a suit and pretending to be a Walmart CEO so he can trick people into thinking they’re fired.

In the full video, the man can be seen eventually revealing to his victims that it was a prank all along. In the case of the woman from the viral clip, she almost breaks down in tears of relief when she finds out it’s a prank.

While it’s great to know that this woman wasn’t actually fired, it’s difficult to see how this “prank” is actually funny. Call me a bore, but I don’t think making people believe they’ve lost their jobs, even if it’s only for a couple of minutes, is funny. While the woman smiles and remains composed, you can clearly see that she is upset. On Facebook, one viewer commented, “Not just a prank. This is messing with someone’s livelihood, especially someone working at Walmart trying to make ends meet.”

The Walmart employee’s response to the situation really reveals just how cruel Cassady’s prank was. It’s hard to see what kind of reaction he was hoping for with this video; every victim in that video just looks crushed when he tells them they’re fired. I thought pranks were supposed to make people laugh.