VisuWell CEO Sam Johnson was fired Monday after he was accused of mocking a male high school senior who wore a dress to prom, according to WGN9.
A video uploaded to Twitter showed Johnson allegedly ridiculing Dalton Stevens for wearing a red dress to prom. Stevens, a high school senior, was taking prom pictures with his boyfriend Jacob Geittmann at the Harpeth Hotel in Franklin, Tennessee, according to the report.
pt. 1 pic.twitter.com/bgQLyMMVcE
— Jacob Geittmann (@jacobgeittmann2) April 25, 2021
Johnson approached the couple and allegedly mocked Stevens for wearing a dress. “Slander terms thrown towards me of like ‘You look bad,’ ‘You’ve got hair on your chest, you shouldn’t be wearing a dress,’ ‘You’re not a man,’ blah, blah, blah,” Stevens told WGN9, “The fact that he thought he had the audacity to come tell me what I was supposed to wear and what I was supposed to do because of his standards.”
“You can have your thoughts and opinions, [but] keep them to yourself,” Geittmann said. “You don’t need to go up to a teenager in public on their prom night and publicly shame and harass them for what they decided to wear.”
Johnson is heard in the video telling Stevens, “You look like an idiot.” Stevens told him to “Get the f*ck away from me.”
The video ends with Stevens telling Johnson, “I’m sorry, I’m gorgeous,” to which Johnson replied, “Are you?” (RELATED: Harry Styles Cleverly Responds To Candace Owens’ Plea For More ‘Manly Men’)
The telehealth company VisuWell terminated Johnson on Monday, condemning his remarks and sharing their support for the LGBTQ community. “We share the concerns that so many have expressed on this matter and look forward to announcing concrete steps we are taking in support of the LGBTQ community in particular over the coming weeks,” the statement read in part.
Johnson told Newsweek the confrontation was not about the dress but about “obnoxious, loud behaviour by this group of teens.”
“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,” Johnson told Newsweek. “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,” he said.