One of the prank's victims broke down in tears when Lauren Love pretended to fire her A YouTube star is facing backlash after she disguised herself as a high-ranking Walmart executive and pretended to fire employees at a Texas store as part of a “prank” video. Lauren Love and her partner, Joel Ashley, run several YouTube channels, including Joel and Lauren TV, which has more than 1.3 million subscribers. Get push notifications with news, features and more. The couple frequently shares innocuous prank videos to the channel with titles like “Beep at this Car Prank” or “Putting Dirt in Wife’s Burger Prank.” But a video they recorded and posted in April, featuring Love pretending to fire the employees of a Richmond, Texas Walmart, has ruffled feathers, with critics blasting Love for her heartless joke. In the since-deleted video, titled “CEO Firing People Prank IN THE HOOD (GONE WRONG),” Love puts on a wig and business attire and carries a clipboard as she informs employees that she is the “CEO of this Walmart.” “I’m in charge today, so I’m firing you. You’re working horrible, you’re moving slow,” she tells one man, who repeatedly tries to explain that he is just doing as he was told as Love demands his badge and vest. Love eventually removes the man’s clip from his vest before telling him, “I’m just kidding, it’s a prank… You’re doing a great job.” Love repeats her spiel to multiple employees, including one man who asks for “one more chance,” and to cashier Maria Leones, whom Love approaches as she’s walking around the store’s garden center. “I don’t appreciate you walking around here,” Love says. “You’re supposed to be at the cashier cashing people out… You can maybe find a different Walmart to work at, but I’m in charge now, and I don’t appreciate the way you’re working… So I’m gonna need to see your badge and your vest.” Walmart prank Lauren Love | Credit: Lauren Love/Youtube Leones grows emotional as she tells Love she’s worked at the store for six years and was even once named the garden employee of the month. Seeing her tears, Love relents and informs her of the prank, prompting a hug from Leones. The woman later told NBC affiliate KPRC she was devastated by the incident. “Really, I was really so crushed. I felt so little, I felt so powerless,” Leones said. “At that very moment, I felt so little, because back home [in the Philippines] I had a very good reputation because I’m a professor.” Leones told the outlet that as Love “fired” her, she thought only of her husband, who recently underwent a quadruple bypass after a heart attack and relies on Leones’ job to pay his medical bills. Love concluded her video by saying she felt “so bad” when Leones started crying that she offered the woman $50. RELATED VIDEO: Senior Prank Gone Wrong Leaves Students Out of Graduation “Hope you guys enjoyed the video. It was honestly hilarious, it turned out really well,” she said. Walmart, however, wasn’t laughing, as a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to PEOPLE that Love has been banned from their stores. “This prank is offensive and the people responsible are no longer welcome in our stores. We’ve taken actions on behalf of our associates, including asking YouTube to remove the video and calling their attention to the bullying nature of this hoax,” the statement read. “Our associates work hard every day to serve our customers. They do a fantastic job, deserve better than being subjected to such disrespect, and will continue to have our full support.” The video received a slew of criticisms on Twitter, including a user who called Love’s actions “trash.” “I don’t know what happened to someone’s humanity when they think it would be funny to impersonate a CEO, go into a WalMart, and tell people that they’re fired,” the user wrote. “One woman cried because her husband is sick. Lauren Love told her it was a joke and gave her $50. Trash.” Added another, “My heart bleeds, melts and tears for that poor woman who burst into tears because of Lauren Love’s “Prank.” Can you imagine what it must feel like to hear you’re fired and then think about the fact that you can no longer support your spouse’s medical bills? #NotFunny.” “YouTube has strict policies that prohibit dangerous or threatening pranks. We quickly remove videos violating our policies when flagged by our users,” a spokesperson for the platform said in a statement to PEOPLE. Love removed the video on her own accord, according to YouTube, though it did not violate the site’s Community Guidelines, which only ban pranks that could lead to serious physical danger or create serious emotional distress in minors.<doc-sep>In the teaser for the video, Love says, “So, I’m going to be going up to Walmart employees and basically observing them and then I’m going to be, like, ‘You’re fired. Let me see your badge,’” she said. The video has since been taken down, but the teaser is still available. One of the pranked employees told Click 2 Houston she felt “so powerless” and thought about her husband, recovering from surgery. “Really, I was really so crushed, I felt so little, I felt so powerless,” Leones said to the media outlet. “At that very moment, I felt so little, because back home [in the Philippines] I had a very good reputation because I’m a professor.” Love dropped her act when Leones began crying and told her she was not fired. “This prank is offensive and the people responsible are no longer welcome in our stores,” Walmart said in a statement to Click 2 Houston. “We’ve taken actions on behalf of our associates, including asking YouTube to remove the video and calling their attention to the bullying nature of this hoax. Our associates work hard every day to serve our customers. They do a fantastic job, deserve better than being subjected to such disrespect, and will continue to have our full support.”<doc-sep>"I was really so crushed. I felt so little, I felt so powerless." Joel and Lauren Tv A YouTuber with over a million subscribers is receiving backlash online after she filmed a "prank" video where she went to a Texas Walmart store, pretended to be a high-level executive, and told employees they were fired. Lauren Love runs several YouTube channels with her partner, Joel Ashley. Their main account, "Joel and Lauren Tv," has 1.3 million subscribers. They also have personal YouTube channels, as well as a separate account under "the Ashley Family." Both of them also have large followings on Instagram — Love has more than 283,000 Instagram followers alone — as do accounts they run for their two young kids, Joel Jr. and Camilla. One of the hallmarks of the couple's main account is the so-called prank video. Some recent "pranks" include "CHEATING IN MY DREAM PRANK" and "EMBARISSING [sic] GIRLFRIEND IN PUBLIC PRANK." Last month the couple uploaded a prank video entitled, "CEO Firing People Prank IN THE HOOD (GONE WRONG)." In the video, Love dresses up in business attire and goes to a Walmart in Richmond, Texas. She then walks up to multiple store employees, claims to be in a management position, and pretends to "fire them." In a clip from the video shared on another channel, Love calls the video a "social experiment" to see their reactions. "Hopefully it's funny. I dunno if it's going to go wrong or bad," she said. The full video has been deleted from the account, but a short clip remains. In it, Love tells the employee she is the "CEO of this" and that he is working "too slow." "I'll have to take your badge and your jacket from you; you're fired," she says. The employee looks confused but complies, dropping his vest to the floor. This week, one of the employees at the Walmart, Maria Leones, spoke out to two reporters at news stations in Houston. Leones told Click2Houston she has worked at the Walmart for six years, after moving to the US from the Philippines to be closer to family. Her job is incredibly important to her family, she said. Her husband is recovering from a heart attack and bypass surgery, and her job is covering their medical insurance and bills. Leones said that when Love told her she was fired, all she could think about was her husband. In the YouTube video, she begins to cry. "I felt so powerless at that time," she told KTRK-TV. Leones said the prank made her feel not only scared but humiliated. “Really, I was really so crushed. I felt so little, I felt so powerless,” she told the news station. “At that very moment, I felt so little, because back home I had a very good reputation because I’m a professor.” In the video, Love tells Leones she is joking when Leones begins to cry. Love and Ashley didn't immediately return a request for comment from BuzzFeed News. Love, however, told KTRK she "felt so bad" for making Leones cry, adding that she offered the worker $50. Walmart didn't return a request for comment from BuzzFeed News, but a spokesperson told Click2Houston the prank was "offensive" and "the people responsible are no longer welcome in our stores." "We’ve taken actions on behalf of our associates, including asking YouTube to remove the video and calling their attention to the bullying nature of this hoax," the spokesperson said. "Our associates work hard every day to serve our customers. They do a fantastic job, deserve better than being subjected to such disrespect, and will continue to have our full support." Now people online are criticizing Love for the prank, saying she should be banned from YouTube. Whoever this fucking Lauren Love person is BAN her from YouTube. This is fucking funny to you? Lucky you didn't get your head knocked off. Disgusting, Walmart should sue her dumbass. Ass dumb @NickABC13 @abc13houston @Walmart Where the hell is security allowing all those JERKS to do those pranks in different Walmarts ....FIGHTS ...PRANKS ...like this is why I dont shop there anymore to much crap goes on in all the walmarts .. @NickABC13 @abc13houston @Walmart There are pranks, and there’s stupid crap like this. This is straight up bullying. Hope they do it to the wrong fed up employee and get their ass knocked out @NickABC13 @abc13houston @Walmart I couldn’t even watch it. I’m not a fan of pranks or anyone hurting someone as a joke. Beyond reprehensible. There should be repercussions. Love and Ashley aren't the only YouTubers pulling prank "firings" on YouTube. A search for the term pulls up many results from multiple channels. YouTube<doc-sep>
YouTube star Lauren Love has come under fire for a prank that involved walking around a Texas Walmart and "firing" people as she pretended to be the company's CEO. The video, which was uploaded last month to her shared YouTube account with her partner, Joel Ashley, is titled "CEO Firing People Prank IN THE HOOD (GONE WRONG)." It has since been deleted. In the clip, Love approaches various employees inside the Richmond store claiming to be in a position of management and then "fires them" In one case, she tells an employee she is "CEO of this" and accuses the man of working too slowly. "I'll have to take your badge and your jacket from you; you're fired," she says. Stunned, the man drops his vest on the floor. The YouTube account, Joel and Lauren Tv, includes many similar prank-type videos, but some say this one went too far, particularly given one of the victims is a woman dependent on the job to care for her husband after he suffered a heart attack. Maria Leones, the employee in question, told multiple local Texas TV stations that her husband is still recovering from the medical scare and she relies on the position for the insurance it provides to help cover her husband's medical bills. In the video when Love approaches her and "fires" her, Leones bursts into tears. "I felt so powerless at that time," she later told KTRK. “Really, I was really so crushed." Love apologizes in the video after Leones started to cry. "Oh my God. I'm sorry. Don't cry," she says. In a statement to Inside Edition, Walmart condemned the prank. "This prank is offensive and the people responsible are no longer welcome in our stores," the company said in a statement. "We've taken actions on behalf of our associates, including asking YouTube to remove the video and calling their attention to the bullying nature of this hoax. Our associates work hard every day to serve our customers. "They do a fantastic job, deserve better than being subjected to such disrespect." Love told KTRK she had no comment when contacted but did reiterate she was sorry for what happened to Leones. "Honestly, the last one, I felt so bad, she started crying," she said. While YouTube does ban content that is explicit, violent and hateful, it does not ban pranks and Love is not alone in her prank. There are scores of fake firing videos to be found on the site. RELATED STORIES