Disney worker accuses theme park of firing him over TikTok videos showing behind the scenes secrets
'I never thought I’d say that again,' says former cast member after being fired for a second time, following Covid closures last year
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Your support makes all the difference.A worker for Walt Disney World has accused the theme park of firing him over TikTok videos that revealed so-called “secrets”.
Jason Jeter, who is followed by more than 650,000 users on the site, said in a video this week that he was fired because Walt Disney “do not appreciate what you’re posting”.
During the firing, a manager allegedly told the former cast member that “the Walt Disney company” had emailed him with concerns, and that following the posting of two particular videos, Mr Jeter was “no longer allowed backstage”, so would be fired.
Mr Jeter walks into a wedding pavilion in one of the videos, and asks “Why would you leave this wide open Disney?”
The pavilion, located on an artificial island by the “Seven Seas Lagoon”, is sometimes open to the public and accessible to Disney employees, according to its website.
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In another video, the former Disney cast member samples the water fountains from Disney Springs, a shopping centre for the resort, and gives an ornamental fountain a one out of 10 score, before spitting the water out.
Although the viral videos appear to be spoofs, Mr Jeter was fired without being asked to delete the videos from TikTok first — which he says was the second time he was fired by the company.
“I wish Disney would’ve asked me to just delete the videos instead of firing me, but it is what it is, it’s official now,” he says in the TikTok video. “Your favourite cast member, Jete, has officially been fired from Disney. I never thought I’d say that again”.
As reported by the DailyDot, the incident comes after Mr Jete was “fired” by Disney in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020, and the cancellation of its Disney College Program.
Mr Jete, whose username is @showmelovejete on TikTok, says in a recent video that the second firing was maybe “the best thing that has ever happened” to him, while his followers on TikTok have more than doubled, from 269,000 at the time of the firing, to over 650,000 today.
“I’m not mad at Disney, I’m still going to go to the parks, I’m not banned,” Mr Jeter adds in another recent TikTok, while wearing a Mickey Mouse pair of ears and a Disney t-shirt while holding an “apology letter”.
“If you guys want to help me get the last laugh, as funny and supportive as your comments are on their [Disney’s] TikToks, it would be the biggest w[in] if we hit a million followers on TikTok before they did.”
The incident was also noted by Twitter users, with one person writing: “The drinking water from the Disney Springs fountains guy was a cast member and he got fired.”
The Independent has approached The Walt Disney Company for comment.
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