Ava DuVernay Calls Out Viral White Woman Using Vandalized Store for Photo Op

Ava DuVernay is calling out white clout chasers attempting to exploit the ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd to bolster their image on social media.

After a young white woman went viral after being caught on video attempting to use a vandalized store for a photo op, the “Selma” director posted the video on Twitter, writing, “Another one. To all the white people doing this #BlackOutTuesday thing, talk about this amongst yourselves. Pinpoint why and how you perform empathy rather than actually act on empathy.”

In the clip, which has gone viral on social media, the girl in workout clothes is seen having a man take a picture of her standing in front of a destroyed T-Mobile store in Santa Monica as her back faces the street. After the man appeared to get the shot, the two casually walk off.

“This girl is making her boyfriend take a picture of her in front of a smashed T-Mobile,” said the woman who filmed the incident. “Oh my god.”

Like DuVernay, people on Twitter criticized the wannabe influencer and accused her of “abusing” the Black Lives Matter Movement.

“Pain tourism for likes is f–king vile,” wrote “Birds of Prey” director Cathy Yan.

“‘Got it, babe,'” a user replied to the video. “‘Good, now let’s get out of here before we have to deal with any of *these* people.'”

Another of DuVernay’s fans added, “James Baldwin said: There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain.”

“So sick so gross. Abusing a movement to score some followers on the gram? Wtf is wrong with people,” a person tweeted while another chimed in, calling the clip “The whitest of white privilege.”

However, the video of the woman taking a photo in front of a vandalized T-Mobile isn’t the only clip sparking outrage online.

In another video, also taken in Santa Monica, a young woman had her boyfriend snap a pic of her holding up a drill in front of a boarded-up store. As shown in the clip, the woman interrupted a worker who was actually boarding-up the store and asked if she could borrow his droll.

“Boyfriends of Instagram,” the girl said in the clip as the two walked over to a shiny, black Mercedes. “Good job guys! Keep it up! BLM”

Similarly, this influencer is also being criticized on social media.

“You know what? I’m… I think I’m gonna put Twitter away for a few minutes before I throw this phone across the room,” DuVernay tweeted alongside the clip on Monday night.

“Omg,” Debra Messing simply replied to DuVernay’s post, while LeBron James reposted the director’s tweet and added a series of steam from nose and facepalm emojis.

The videos come amid the daily protests that have erupted in over 30 cities since the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died while a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Video captured Derek Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes during Floyd’s arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd was unresponsive when paramedics arrived and was later pronounced dead.

Chauvin was arrested on Friday and faces 3rd-degree murder and manslaughter charges. He and three other officers were fired in connection with Floyd’s death.