TikTok influencer slammed for shaming people in act of ‘kindness’ video

A woman has blasted a TikToker after he filmed her parents without their permission and shamed them in a viral clip.

3 min read

November 18, 2022 - 9:50AM

A woman has blasted a TikToker after he filmed her parents without their permission and shamed them in a viral clip.

Two weeks ago, Amal Awad’s parents were walking in Sydney when social media star Luke Erwin, wearing a sling, came up to them to ask if they could help him open a water bottle. The couple walked away.

The content creator’s arm was not broken. The 21-second clip was part of a staged “acts of kindness” trend on social media.

The video, captioned “Don’t be the person that doesn’t help”, saw the influencer turn to the camera with a look of disbelief as the couple did not stop to assist him.

Erwin’s video has attracted 2.6 million views, with some abusive comments towards the elderly couple.

“Those first people just plain hateful!!!” one person wrote.

“I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t help,” another said.

“If people can’t even help to open a bottle of water, then humanity is doing really bad…,” a third commented.

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Amal Awad’s parents were walking in Sydney when social media star Luke Erwin came up to them to ask if they could help him open a water bottle he was holding in his left hand, while his right arm was in a sling. Picture: TikTok/lukeerwintv

The influencer turn to the camera with a look of disbelief as the couple did not stop to assist him. Picture: TikTok/lukeerwintv

On Wednesday, freelance journalist Awad wrote an opinion piece to reveal the couple are her parents.

“My parents are not dismissive, and they are not hateful,” she wrote on the SBS website.

“My mother says what she saw was two men approaching them (the other one was filming), their intentions not clear. She didn’t notice the man’s arm was in a sling,” she said.

“They were distressed by the video, and the comments it led to.”

Writer and author Amal Awad. Picture: Instagram/amalmdawad

Amal Awad's parents. Picture: Instagram/amalmdawad

The writer and author added that the TikTok trend was “at worst monetised harassment”.

“My parents, minding their own business, should have a right to their privacy,” she said.

Not all of the comments on Erwin’s video were negative, some users defended Awad’s parents.

“I don’t think it’s right to shame ppl because they didn’t help. U don’t know what they are going through,” one person wrote.

“I’m sure you would feel comfortable with a stranger approaching you in the street too,” another said sarcastically.

Amal Awad and her father. Picture: Instagram/amalmdawad

Erwin, who has over 898,000 followers on TikTok, responded to Awad’s article.

“I apologise to the family that are involved in this and the people’s parents that were involved in this video,” he said.

The TikToker went on to say that he’s changed his content

“I used to do all these terrible pranks that I wasn’t proud of,” he said.

“Now, I’ve changed my content. I’m giving back to the homeless. I’m helping people in need.

“Everyone can obviously see the change that I’ve taken in my content and it’s my happy place to give back.

“But, I want to point out that the media all they want to address is negative, negative, negative not ‘Oh, Luke gave back $500 to this person or Luke raised awareness for depression and anxiety and then everyone took the free money off him’. None of that.

“My page is a safe, happy place. I’m trying to spread awareness. I’m trying to spread positivity.

“I want to give back to the people and all of my decisions aren’t always going to be correct, but I just wanted to call the media out on this one.”