Harrison Pawluk has been slammed after buying a woman's groceries. Photo / TikTok/@lifeofharrison
Harrison Pawluk has been slammed after buying a woman's groceries. Photo / TikTok/@lifeofharrison
TikToker Harrison Pawluk is known for his random acts of kindness but has been criticised a second time after paying for a woman's groceries.
The short clip shared to TikTok shows the 22-year-old, known as @lifeofharrison online, telling a woman she dropped some money on the floor before he quickly pays for her groceries while her back was turned.
The Woolworths cashier then informed the woman that Pawluk had paid for her bill.
Momentarily, the woman was stunned and asked, "What?" before smiling when she realised what had happened.
The clip then showed her firmly raising her hand and saying, "Put that back, please" before she walked off with her shopping.
A third added: "Bro give the money to poor people. Donate it. That would be valuable."
A spokesperson for Harrison, Taylor Reilly, told news.com.au that the woman was not pointing or speaking to Harrison, but instead her two children who were off-camera.
Several other social media users praised Harrison for his act, saying he inspired them to also cheer up others with kindness.
It comes after Melbourne woman Maree, who was made the star of one of Harrison's videos after he gave her flowers, revealed she felt "dehumanised" after the clip went viral.
The short clip showed Maree sitting down for coffee in a food court before she was gifted the flowers.
It was meant to be a random act of kindness but Maree said she didn't want the flowers or the attention of tens of millions of people around the world.
Maree told ABC Radio Melbourne she felt "dehumanised" and challenged the idea that the act of kindness was random at all.
A media outlet that saw the TikTok video then ran a story that Maree said misrepresented her as a lonely, sad woman.
Maree said she felt "dehumanised" by the experience. Photo / TikTok/@lifeofharrison
"They must have gone through the film and they got this picture of me looking, you know, supposedly crying but it was just a horrible expression. And I just was quite offended," Maree said.
"He interrupted my quiet time, filmed and uploaded a video without my consent, turning it into something it wasn't, and I feel like he is making quite a lot of money through it."
She said people should "challenge" the notion the videos are "random acts of kindness" and she was surprised it was legal to film somebody without their permission and upload the video online.
In a statement, Harrison's management team said: "Harrison has a TikTok following of 3 million and after a recent trip to LA decided to change the focus of his channel to concentrate on random acts of kindness after witnessing the extent of the poverty and homelessness in a city where that shouldn't be the case.
"He offers flowers and pays for complete strangers' groceries and while cynics may claim it's for views, Harrison has made no revenue off of this video.
"He simply has a personal commitment to helping people feel more connected and trusting ... Apart from Maree, so far Harrison has only encountered gratitude for what he has done.
"He would not want something designed to spread love and compassion to cause anyone concern."
