They say that no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. But what if that act of kindness is all for show and simply a way to make more content? That’s often the case with many media influencers right now who sometimes feature homeless folk in their videos to help increase views and engagement. Case in point: a California influencer who was conducting an interview with a homeless person at Venice Beach was interrupted by an irate passerby who accused the content creator of “using” said homeless person. This sparked an awkward exchange that was captured on video.
The one-minute clip centers on the California influencer who is in the middle of interviewing the homeless man. The content creator on the left, sporting a white cap and blue denim jacket, is chatting to the homeless man on the right. “What keeps you going from day to day? You wake up. What keeps you going?” asks the influencer, before a random passerby barges in and suddenly intervenes. “We’re not using him, right, buddy?” inquires the third man, putting his arm around the homeless man in a defensive stance. “Definitely not.” responds the influencer.
“Is he using you, brother?” the passerby asks the homeless man. The homeless person, however, remains sheepishly quiet. “I’m not. I’m really not.” explains the content creator holding a miniature microphone in his hand. “No, no, no, brother. We don’t need you. We need you out of Venice right now. You’re not gonna have a fake subject. I need you out. You’re not gonna have a fake subject.” the passerby declares, pointing.
In an interesting twist, however, the influencer claims, “We’re actually just helping.” and this does help to pacify the situation slightly, as the passerby reveals that he’s actually a member of Share, which is a voluntary support service in Culver City that helps homeless people. “Okay, you are? I’m with Share. Do you know them? Of Culver City? Okay, so you should look it up and get out now. Stop messing with the homeless.” the alleged Share volunteer fires back. The influencer continues to insist that he’s there to help the homeless man, though things then get a little bizarre.
Peculiarly, the alleged Share volunteer claims that he hears the homeless man mention something about “sex“, but from the footage, it doesn’t appear that the unhoused man says anything. Making the interaction even stranger is a brief exchange where the Share volunteer looks the influencer dead in the eye and says, “I win, you don’t.” with a big grin on his face. The Share volunteer then reveals that he himself is homeless, and after a further back and forth, the pair hug it out, ending the bizarre clip.
As the bizarre footage makes the round across the internet, baffled netizens took to the comments to share their views. A commenter over on Reddit chipped in with, “WTF! this guy is a roller coaster.” Another user, meanwhile, couldn’t believe the the passerby turned out to be homeless, especially considering how well dressed he was, writing, “Homeless in a Patagonia vest?! I can’t even afford one and I sleep in a house.” Lastly, a third commenter jokingly chimed in, writing, “It’s like if Michael Scott had schizophrenia“
