Charli D’Amelio sparks backlash for ‘pretending’ to work as cashier at Walmart

‘I feel like this makes a mockery of working class jobs but okay,’ says critic

Charli D’Amelio has been called out online after she posted a video of herself “pretending” to work as a cashier at Walmart.

The 19-year-old influencer, who has more than 151 million followers on TikTok, recently shared a video of herself wearing a Walmart employee vest and name tag in honour of her family’s new partnership with the major American retail store.

D’Amelio - along with her 22-year-old sister, Dixie, and their parents, Heidi and Marc D’Amelio - recently launched her brand of popcorn, Be Happy Snacks, in collaboration with Walmart. To celebrate the launch, the D’Amelio Show stars shared videos of themselves scanning the bags of snack popcorn at a Walmart check-out stand.

In one video posted to the family’s official TikTok account, D’Amelio and her mother were seen wearing the signature blue Walmart vests, smiling wide as they snapped photos of themselves working as cashiers. “Our mood watching people get their @Be Happy Snacks,” they captioned the post. “Go get yours now!!”

Another TikTok clip showed the D’Amelio sisters stacking bags of Be Happy Snacks on Walmart shelves and smiling for the camera.

The videos were reposted to X, formerly known as Twitter, where the teenage influencer was criticised for the campaign. Many people argued that the videos were insensitive to the more than two million Americans employed by the superstore, which pays workers around $17.50 per hour. Meanwhile, a 2022 report from Forbes claimed that D’Amelio is worth an estimated $17.5m as the highest-paid star on TikTok.

“So weird to see people have fun role playing the working class lol,” one critic wrote on X.

“Maybe I’m just a hater but something about a rich person pretending to be a working class citizen just rubs me in the wrong way,” another user said.

“Rich people pretending to be poor will always piss me off,” wrote someone else, while another user said: “I feel like this makes a mockery of working class jobs but okay…”

D’Amelio isn’t the only celebrity who’s received backlash for pretending to do “normal” jobs or tasks. In season one of The Kardashians, which aired last year on Hulu, Kris and Kylie Jenner were called “privileged” for doing a day of “normal” people activities, which included grocery shopping and going to a car wash.

While running “normal” errands, the two found excitement in deciding who would push the shopping cart. They also went to a gas station and a car wash, where Kris said: “This is like Disneyland. We have to bring the kids here.”

“Kris and Kylie calling going to the grocery store an experience and going to a carwash a tourist attraction is the most disgusting thing I’ve watched today,” one person wrote on social media after the episode.

The Kylie Cosmetics founder was once again accused of being “out of touch” when she and ex Travis Scott gifted their then-three-year-old daughter, Stormi Webster, a yellow school bus. “All Stormi has been talking about is riding a big yellow bus. Daddy surprised her,” Kylie wrote on Instagram, as she shared photos of her daughter walking through the empty bus.

In response, one person wrote on X: “Stormi is so rich her dad Travis surprised her with a yellow school bus so she can act middle class for the day.” Another person tweeted: “Rich people are literally so far from reality they bought a school bus for Stormi to sit on.”

Most recently, Lana Del Rey moonlighted as a waitress at a Waffle House in Alabama this summer. The singer was spotted by fans behind the counter of the chain restaurant making coffee, while wearing a uniform and name tag.

The Independent has contacted a representative for D’Amelio for comment.