Update 11:17am CT, July 19: In an email to Daily Dot, Ashley explained the video was simply a joke. “She was just playing with the sprayer while waiting on her mom to pick up something,” Ashley said.
Original story: A video showing a child cleaning dishes in the back of a Hooters went viral and sparked considerable debate.
In the now-viral TikTok posted by user Ashley, she shows a child cleaning dishes while she observes.
“Them Minion movie tickets ain’t free,” she wrote in the text overlay of the video.
The video currently has over 1.7 million views.
@iamashleygonzalez Lmfaooo #fyp #minions ♬ Minion_lovers – Matthew 🎸
The truth behind this video is unclear. Hooters does not employ people under the age 17, per both the Hooters Florida website and employment information site NCESC.
Additionally, there is no legal concern about a child being let into a Hooters location. As one Nevada-based Hooters owner explained on Tripadvisor, “We welcome guests of all ages in our Hooters restaurant.”
As far as the legality of the child working is concerned, children under the age of 14 are not legally allowed to work in restaurants, per Chron. However, if the business is owned by a family member, federal law states that the child can work for the restaurant at 12 years old. It is not clear how this interacts with Hooters’ hiring policy, nor does the video state how old the child is or whether they were officially working for Hooters.
Regardless, the content of the video led users on TikTok to make jokes about the situation.
“That’s how you get 20 years experience at the age of 18,” one user joked.
“This is what jobs mean when they say you need to have at least 5 years work experience before you get hired,” another echoed.
Others made jokes about the current staffing shortage seen across the country.
“Pov your low staffed so you ask ANYONE to come and help out,” a user stated.
Users recalled their own similar experiences.
“Used to babysit my gms kid at taco [bell],” a commenter remembered. “Goddd this takes me back.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Ashley and Hooters via email.
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