Investigation

Man Fired, Family Doxxed Over Viral Video Of Alleged ‘Homophobia’ To Male In Prom Dress. Here’s His Side Of The Story. 

Johnson has lost his job and received death threats over the viral video.

   DailyWire.com
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Sean Gladwell via Getty Images

Nashville resident Sam Johnson was fired from his position as CEO of healthcare company Visuwell on Monday, his family was doxxed online, and he has received a deluge of threats. But that “enormous volume of hate,” Johnson told The Daily Wire, is based on a false, media-inflamed narrative stemming from an out-of-context viral video.

The onslaught was sparked by a video of Johnson that recently went viral online, appearing to show him engaging in alleged “homophobia,” though, notably, not once in the video does Johnson utter any homophobic slur or use any profanity.

The mainstream narrative, based on a 59-second video clip, contends that Johnson targeted, harassed, bullied, and spewed homophobia to an 18-year-old male for wearing a dress to his prom. Here’s what the video seems to show:

The video, taken at a hotel before prom, opens with the teen, Dalton Stevens, telling Johnson, “I chose what I wanna wear so you can f*** off.” Johnson, hands in his pockets, quietly responds, “Is that right?” Johnson is then followed and asked leading questions by Stevens’ boyfriend, Jacob Geitmann, the teen filming Johnson. “You think he looks gross? Looks disgustin’?” he asks. “You look like …,” Johnson starts to say. In response, Stevens screams at him, “I look like what, you f***ing b****?” “You look like an idiot,” Johnson calmly says in reaction to the cursing. “Get the f*** away from me!” Stevens screams. “Keep talking. You look like a moron,” Geitmann tells Johnson. “I’m sorry, I’m gorgeous,” Stevens says. “Are you?” Johnson responds. Johnson then appears to try to block Geitmann from filming him. “No, sir, I can f***ing record you all I want,” says Geitmann.

WATCH:

Johnson spoke to The Daily Wire on Tuesday and refuted the mainstream narrative by adding context to the video.

“They had been at the hotel/restaurant for an hour, causing a scene and being loud and obnoxious,” Johnson said. “I was perturbed that the management wasn’t doing anything to protect the rest of us who were paying customers with our kids present. These teens were only there to take pictures and cause a public scene.”

“There are many lies in the mainstream articles and interviews including the allegations of homophobic name-calling and ‘following’ him,” Johnson said, referring to Stevens.

One of those false allegations was published in an NBC report, Johnson told The Daily Wire.

“Stevens alleged that Johnson called him ‘stupid,’ as well as vulgar names, in a homophobic manner and that Johnson told him that he has ‘hair on your chest, you shouldn’t be wearing a dress,'” the NBC report said.

“I never said those things, that’s a lie,” Johnson unequivocally told The Daily Wire.

“Stevens was spewing all sorts of vile statements and trying to coax me into agreeing to them,” he added. “You can hear him doing it on the video.”

Johnson told The Daily Wire he did say Stevens looked like “an idiot,” but said nothing homophobic. Notably, as the video shows, Johnson was called names by Stevens and Geitmann. He was told to “f*** off” and called a “b****” and a “moron” during the video clip.

Johnson says he was heading back to his table when the video starts rolling, making it appear as if he is following Stevens, though he is not.

“The door I was headed towards in the video led back to the table I was sitting at with my family,” he told The Daily Wire. “[Stevens] headed in that same direction all of a sudden, which made it appear I was following him to the uninformed viewer of their social post, which I was not doing. I was simply returning to my family at the restaurant, when they escalated the conversation with more foul and vile language and leading statements about what they thought I might be thinking, trying to get me to agree with their words.”

Johnson made similar assertions in a statement to Newsweek on Monday, emphasizing that the allegations are “entirely false” and the interaction “wasn’t anything personal or involving a dress.”

“We had just sat down for dinner at this restaurant that we frequent, and I was returning from the restroom when I was presented with their loud cursing,” he recalled. “Making it about the dress was their idea and they edited out most of the exchange. I have no ill will towards anyone or their personal choices, so long as it does not harm me or my family.

Johnson disclosed to The Daily Wire that he’s received death threats since the video clip’s release and was terminated from his position as CEO of Visuwell.

“I have now been the target of an enormous volume of hate, threat — including death threats — and constant harassment ever since they posted that encounter to TikTok and Twitter,” Johnson said. “I’ve also now been forced out of my job due to Visuwell’s customers, mostly hospitals, demanding my removal.”

Visuwell announced Johnson’s termination on Monday, writing via Twitter: “We unequivocally condemn the behavior exhibited by Sam Johnson in a recent video widely circulated on social media,” the company said. “After investigating the matter and speaking to individuals involved, the VisuWell BOD has chosen to terminate Mr. Johnson from his position as CEO, effective immediately. Gerry Andrady, our President and COO, will lead the company through this important time.”

The Daily Wire reached out to Visuwell on Monday about their alleged investigation into the matter and their decision to terminate Johnson but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Here’s a small sampling of the hate and harassment Johnson received Monday:

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The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  Man Fired, Family Doxxed Over Viral Video Of Alleged ‘Homophobia’ To Male In Prom Dress. Here’s His Side Of The Story.