After picking on a teenage boy choosing to wear a dress to his prom, Sam Johnson, a Tennessee healthcare CEO, has been fired from his job since camera footage reveals the atrocity that he tells the boy.
On camera, he says that he looks like an “idiot” while taking pictures before the actual event. Although caught on video, Johnson denies allegations of saying anything to him.
The boy who received the comment, Dalton Stevens, tells NBC News that he wore the dress in order to show that clothes do not have a gender at all, and that “it has no meaning.point 412 |
” Johnson is one of the bystanders who chose to say something and was bothered, hence VisuWell firing him because they have a “zelo-tolerance policy for intolerance.point 151 | ”point 158 | 1
Johnson’s comments were ignorant and cost him his job.
The couple, Dalton Stevens and Jacob Geittman had been taking pictures at Harpeth Hotel located south of Nashville before the main event had begun. Stevens tells NBC that he was posing for his pictures and was being harassed by Johnson, and even caught the interaction that eventually got posted onto social media platform, Tik Tok.
Even with Stevens’ explanation of why he was wearing the dress, Johnson continued to verbally harass him by calling him names and even going as far as following Stevens.
The couple first heard his comments when he was nearby, and then the CEO started to approach the couple, questioning his clothing choice. He states that Stevens shouldn’t wear a dress because he “has hair on his chest.”
He even comments by saying that Stevens looks disgusting. This causes tension, which Stevens tells Johnson to f*** off” since he can wear what he wants to wear. Johnson sees that Stevens’ boyfriend was filming and even tries to knock the phone out of his hands, but ends up hitting Stevens.
Luckily, bystanders were trying to intervene and tell Johnson to stop, pleading that “It’s just prom. It’s kids, it’s a bunch of kids. Come on, dude.”
The video had gained traction and celebrities such as Kathy Griffin and Billy Porter comment on the situation.point 354 |
Griffin retweets with the caption: “If this is Sam Johnson in Nashville, Tennessee, the CEO of VisuWell, healthcare-tech-growth- strategist, married to Jill Johnson where they may reside in Franklin, Tennessee, it seems like he’s dying to be online famous.point 230 |
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Still, Johnson denies any involvement in the situation. His former company speaks out and tells the public that “We unequivocally condemn the behavior exhibited by Sam Johnson in a recent video widely circulated on social media. VisuWell’s culture emphasizes respect, kindness, and compassion.”