Charitable Influencer Banned from Walmart Asks Followers Not to Boycott The Store: ‘I Respect Them’

A social media influencer who is known for unexpectedly buying strangers’ groceries for them has been banned from Walmart, leading many of his fans to want to boycott the retail chain.

Damon Darling has racked up millions of followers with his videos where he approaches people in Walmart and films their reaction when he tells them he’s going to buy their groceries to ease any financial burden they may be experiencing. However, in a video posted on Sunday, August 9, he was kicked out of a store in Ohio by a reluctant employee.

In the video, Darling asked why he’s not able to film and what he’s done that’s causing the store to kick him and his camera person out. Despite Damon saying that he spoke to what he believed to be the store’s manager, who gave him permission to be there, the employee stated that it’s against a corporate policy he has no control over.

“I just don’t know where I’m gonna go. Walmart is where the people need me. Target don’t need me, man! They’ve got money,” he said in the video.

In the video, Darling leaves the Walmart and says that he plans to work things out with the store so he can get back to doing what he does. However, two days later he shared another video showing a police officer who has seemingly pulled him over in his car, informing him that he’s been issued a lifetime ban from all Walmart locations.

The officer stated that he can appeal the decision by contacting corporate, but let him know that he’ll be arrested for trespassing if he goes to a Walmart without permission.

In a statement shared with TMZ, Walmart stated: “We deeply care about our associates and customers. Mr. Darling has repeatedly violated our policies through disruptive behavior and trespassing, unrelated to any charitable giving.”

It didn’t take long before many of Darling’s fans started to call for a massive boycott of Walmart for not letting the charitable influencer into their stores. However, he posted a follow-up video on Wednesday, August 12, where he told his followers that he doesn’t want them to boycott Walmart.

“I do want to make it clear that I don’t have any beef with Walmart,” he said in the video. “I don’t want you guys to have any beef with Walmart.”

He added that he understands the store has its policies and that it’s OK that he’s not allowed in anymore. That said, he hopes to reconcile, which is where his followers come in: Darling advised that if his followers feel compelled to do anything in reaction to his ban, he asked that they simply encourage Walmart to give him “a second chance.”

“But it’s OK, I love Walmart still,” he concluded. “I respect them, I’m sorry, anything I did in videos that you didn’t approve of, I apologize… I just wanna move on from it.”