Ole Miss Outrage BACKFIRES As Donations Pour In!
The internet tried to destroy an Ole Miss student over thirteen seconds of Ring-camera footage.
Instead, it may have just made her thousands of dollars.
Lauren Mayfield was identified in coverage surrounding the viral video showing two young women beating their chests and making monkey-like noises outside an apartment shared by Black students. The footage created a national firestorm, prompted an Ole Miss investigation and produced demands for expulsions, lost opportunities and permanent consequences.
Then the backlash completely backfired.
Organizer Tom Hennessey launched a Stand With Lauren GiveSendGo campaign intended to compensate Mayfield for income or opportunities she might lose during the controversy. The fundraiser has now surged past $11,000 toward a $20,000 goal as supporters rally behind her.
The campaign comes with one very deliberate condition: the organizer says the support ends if Mayfield disavows the fundraiser or apologizes simply to satisfy the online mob.
Another woman linked to the footage, Alaina Kunes, issued an apology and reportedly withdrew from Ole Miss. Mayfield has not followed that path, and the fundraising total has continued climbing.
Ole Miss is still reviewing the incident. That has not stopped social-media users from demanding the harshest possible punishment or attempting to destroy the women involved before the university completes its process.
The people trying to ruin her wanted unemployment, expulsion and permanent humiliation. What they got was a five-figure fundraising campaign and an enormous new audience questioning whether the punishment campaign went completely off the rails.
We break down the viral footage, the GiveSendGo explosion, the organizer’s unusual condition and how the internet outrage machine managed to produce the exact opposite result it wanted.