UPDATED October 8, 4:06 p.m. ET: In a new report by TMZ, they have learned the Waffle House employee was an online scammer making up a backstory behind the incident for financial gain.
Waffle House’s VP of Public Relations, Njeri Boss, tells TMZ that they investigated the matter and found that “the media portrayals and social media posts are not accurate.”
“While an employee of ours was recorded holding a baby at work, she is not related to that baby in any manner, never identified herself as the person in the TikTok video, never provided a CashApp account to receive any donations, never gave an interview to any media outlet, and never was suspended from her job,” Boss adds.
Waffle House explains the employee in the TikTok video held a baby belonging to her co-worker to quickly settle the crying child. She has been properly re-trained on proper safety guidelines.
“We caution against further dissemination of that false story and the damages that might result, not to mention the help that might give to support an apparent fraud on the public,” the company said.
See original story below.
A TikTok showing a Waffle House employee working with a crying baby on her hip has sparked a debate surrounding parenting.
As reported by The Daily Dot, user @kizzle360 uploaded the video to TikTok alongside the caption “Aint’ know why she got her baby in here smh.” The 12-second clip went viral and accumulated 3.7 million views after being uploaded two days ago, and while its initial intention seemed to be to shame the woman, the reaction to the mother in question was surprisingly empathetic.
“So you telling me, she had to hold her baby at 25-30 pounds AND do her job and y’all have the audacity to shame her,” wrote user @haleyhull129. “She doing what she has to.” Another user @angryreactions also chimed in to say, “Nothing but respect tbh,” while @gracethisplace. Another user added that this is why “we need to get free childcare.”
A TikToker named @tiffanyclark842 also sounded off in the comments and claimed to be the woman in question in the video. She said that the baby was actually her niece and that she was about to be taken away by social services if she hadn’t taken her. Clark also said that she still had an hour left on her shift, so she made do with her niece in her arms. She added that her boss saw the TikTok, and she was waiting to see if there are any consequences for her actions.
TMZ later caught up with the South Carolina woman, who said that the baby was named Octavia and that she was the daughter of Clark’s brother, who died recently. Clark also said that she was never cooking with Octavia in her arms, and was instead setting up plates. She ultimately was suspended for a week from her job after her boss saw the video but hopes to become Octavia’s legal guardian soon. Waffle House refused to comment on the situation to TMZ.
Check out the Tik Tok up top.
