Good people online have raised more than $300,000 for a Red Baron employee who went viral after an influencer approached him while he was stocking frozen pizzas in a grocery store and staged a fake Apple Pay theft.
In the video, the worker is wearing a red Red Baron polo and stocking a freezer when the rude influencer asks the time, then pretends to take money from his phone by playing the Apple Pay sound.
The employee starts off calm but becomes visibly frustrated, telling the prankster, “You’re probably making money off of this, I can’t even pay my goddamn mortgage! And I got four kids at home. So not funny!”
WATCH:
Internet users have raised over $120,000 for the Red Baron worker who went viral after an influencer started harassing him.
The man has been identified as ‘Walt Z’ from Michigan and he is thankful for the support.
“Walt Z out of Michigan sends a heartfelt thankyou, and is… pic.twitter.com/URrjgwIITV
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 29, 2026
He also says he was already an hour late getting home, that his kids went to bed without him, and that he has to wake up at 5 a.m. to cover ten more stores.
The original clip was watermarked with the Instagram handle @thea.ctiveworld, also known as ThreeOfAKind; that account has since been deactivated.
As the internet rallied behind the worker, a man named Luke Oakenshield launched the GoFundMe titled “Support a Harassed Red Baron Worker” on October 27, stating he does not know the employee personally but started it so the worker would not face financial instability if the company disciplined or fired him over the confrontation.
By Thursday afternoon, the campaign had surpassed $300,000 from more than 8,000 donations, with the organizer later confirming contact with Walt Z through a manager and a video chat.
The man, identified only as Walt Z from Michigan, has requested privacy as he navigates the viral attention.
In an update on GoFundMe, Oakenshield wrote:
THE WORKER HAS BEEN FOUND! Walt Z out of Michigan sends a heartfelt thankyou, and is absolutely blown away by how much people have cared over this. They are requesting privacy, and GoFundMe is taking the lead in transferring all of this to him. You’re all Rockstars, and it shows.
Red Baron’s parent company confirmed to the New York Post that they are standing by their employee.
He’s still here. He’s got a fan club.
Including us. pic.twitter.com/7oppfnDUfx— Red Baron Pizza (@redbaronpizza) October 29, 2026
“We are aware of the video circulating on social media involving one of our Direct Store Delivery employees during an incident that occurred in August,” a spokesperson for Schwan’s Company told The Post.
“Following the incident, we connected directly with our team member to check on his well-being, and we continue to offer our support. We are pleased to share that he is doing well and remains a valued member of our team.”
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