A Waffle House employee has revealed that she was fired after filming a viral TikTok video inside an Atlanta branch, in Georgia.
Yadira Ramirez’s account gained lots of attention after she posted a video featuring herself and co-workers performing a lip-sync to rapper Latto’s song “Brokey” while on shift.
The video followed a trend sparked by Latto, who initially promised $10,000 to the fan who would go on to post the best video of the song.
@yadirajramirez1 #WH #atlantawafflehouse #druskiwafflehouse #webeworking #fyp #hard #fye #working #wesellingsmoreswaffles #baddies #latto @BigLatto ♬ Brokey – Latto
The September 19 video shows the employees lip-syncing while washing dishes, eating waffles, and also flashing cash. Astonishingly, the video exceeded 28.2 million views since it was posted, and continues to go viral by the day.
However, Ramirez revealed that after she posted the video, it had unintended consequences for her on a personal level. In a follow-up post the next day, she then announced that she had been fired after six years of working at Waffle House because of her actions.
“I just got fired because of that video of Big Latto’s challenge,” Ramirez said in the video. “I’m glad I put six years into a company that would fire me literally a day after posting one video, ONE VIDEO, that harms nobody. Everyone was actually rooting for and happy about it, but whatever.”
She added, “Smart decision, smart move, you know. And then they put me on—it’s called an EFR list or something, basically, I can never get rehired again.”
The beginning of the TikTok video sees a co-worker wearing a red Waffle House-branded hat, spraying a hose at the camera. Then also, it transitions to the drive-thru window, where another colleague portrays a wad of cash while lip-syncing.
I hate that y’all think I was calling hard workers brokeys ???? so I got $10k for whoever make the best video at they job to brokey & I’ll fly u out to be in the music video…no mo waiting til ur bday to go outta town. Tag me & hashtag #Brokey so I can see them all
— BIG LATTO (@Latto) September 15, 2024
The video then cuts to a line of Waffle House workers dancing before showing a receipt reading “BROKEY” and two employees eating waffles.
In other additional TikTok updates, Ramirez also said she was fired by a manager who was present while the video was being recorded but did not participate in it.
Nonetheless, the story up until that moment was still far from over.
Only days after she was fired, the situation took a surprising turn when Latto herself reached out to Ramirez.
The rapper later met up with the former Waffle House employee, and Ramirez shared a video of the two dancing together on TikTok. In the video, she wore a red dress and threw dollar bills while Latto was seen twerking right next to her.
Ramirez’s TikTok profile indicates that she worked at one of the Waffle House locations in Atlanta, Georgia, and she will be aiming to get back on her feet, despite the minor setback.