A CEO has been fired after video of him harassing a teenage boy who was wearing a dress to prom went viral on social media.
Jacob Geittmann pulled his cellphone and started recording after Sam Johnson, the now ex-CEO of a telehealth company, started harassing his boyfriend, Dalton Stevens, in a Tennessee hotel where they were gathered ahead of their prom.
'You Look Like an Idiot'
According to Geittmann, Johnson first approached them while they were taking photos and started arguing with Stevens, who was wearing a red prom gown, that he should not be wearing a dress.
Geitmann started filming Johnson making the homophobic comments but says Johnson slapped his phone out of his hand to get him to stop recording. He says he was eventually able to retrieve his phone and resume filming once again as Johnson continued to follow them.
In the viral video, Stevens can be heard yells at a smirking Johnson, "I chose what I want to wear, so you can f*ck off." Stevens tries to walk away from the grown man but Stevens continues to follow him, eventually cornering him against a wall. "You look like an idiot," he tells him. Moments later, Johnson tries to slap Geittmann's phone out of his hand, but misses.
Several bystanders ask Johnson to leave the teenagers alone. "It's just prom. It's kids. It's a bunch of kids. Come on, dude," says one person, while another requests, "Just please. Just stop. Stop."
Watch the video below:
Johnson Claims the Boys Were Bering 'Loud' and 'Obnoxious'
Johnson denies parts of the incident to Newsweek, claiming that he was confronting the teenagers about "obnoxious, loud behavior." He said that he had been attempting to get the teens to "tone down the vulgarities around the families and children who were present" and claimed the video footage was deceptively edited to make it look like it was about the dress.
However, the video evidence shows the former CEO making negative comments about his clothing to Stevens and following him around the hotel.
According to the Tennessean, Police were also called to the premises to force Johnson to leave after the hotel management was unable to convince him to stop causing a problem. Johnson, however, says he and his family left of their own free will.
Johnson Fired as CEO of VisuWell
Not long after the video went viral, Johnson was fired from his position as CEO of VisuWell, a telehealth platform company. The company posted on Twitter Monday night that Johnson was removed as CEO by the board of directors and was no longer working at or with the company in any sense, reiterating that "his behavior was not representative of our values, which include respect and compassion for all."
