A viral social media post claiming a 26-year-old Olive Garden waitress in St. Louis, Missouri, threw breadsticks at customers after being stiffed on a tip has been revealed as entirely fabricated. The story, which included a mugshot of a young blonde woman, was shared by the Facebook page 'Pure Videos' to its 1.7 million followers.
The real woman in the mugshot, Megan Ashlee Davis, a student at College Station in Texas, said the fake post has turned her life into a nightmare. Davis told Chron that people are making inappropriate comments and using AI to generate content with her mugshot. Her arrest in August was for public intoxication after a night out drinking, just weeks after her mother's death.
Although the original post has been taken down or made private, copies have spread across Facebook and X. Davis said she feels overlooked and unheard as more content is created. Olive Garden confirmed the story is false, stating, 'This person does not work for Olive Garden, and the incident described never occurred.'
The incident highlights the rise of 'rage bait' posts on Facebook, especially after Meta stopped using third-party fact-checking in the U.S. in April. The page 'Pure Videos' has posted similar hoaxes involving multiple brands, according to Chron.
