Aussie TikTok star ‘sorry’, won’t stop acts of kindness

Harrison Pawluk, 22, appeared on Sunday night’s The Project with a message for Melbourne mum Maree who said she felt “dehumanised” after his act of kindness targeting her went viral.

The short clip showed Maree sitting down for coffee in a food court before she was gifted the flowers by Pawluk. It has since been viewed more than 58 million times.

However, she said she didn’t want the flowers or the attention of millions of people around the world.

“Maree I apologise for what has happened and I would love to be able to owe you a coffee and to be able to get you a bouquet of flowers that are more to your taste,” Pawluk said on The Project

However, Pawluk says he will keep performing the acts of kindness.

“I know my true intentions and I know that if I can inspire even 1 per cent of the people that watch my content to go out there and do something good, I have done something that I believe is good for the world.”

Known as @lifeofharrison, Pawluk has attracted 3.2 million fans on TikTok due to posting his random acts of kindness, and is even managed by a talent agent.

Shortly after the video was posted on Pawluk’s TikTok, a media outlet ran a story about the stunt that Maree said misrepresented her as a lonely, sad woman.

“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.”

Indeed, these kind of videos have been criticised as performative and exploitative.

Tech journalist James Hennessy told The Project: “(They’re) chasing views. These videos do incredibly well. Certainly it’s a dynamic these people are not really getting a whole lot out of but the (video) creator is.”

However, Pawluk insisted he’s not after the views: “I’m not looking just for elderly ladies, I’ve given flowers to men as well and have also given flowers to younger women too. I’m not just specifically targeting one person.

“The person that I look for in a video is just someone that I believe is going to appreciate the gesture.”

Across Australia, laws varied when it comes to videoing people without their consent.

However, Project presenter and former MasterChef contestant Julie Goodwin wasn’t thrilled with this tactic: “I’m all for kindness but I’m also about consent. Ask permission: ‘Are you OK for me to pop this up on my YouTube channel’.”

While fellow host Hamish MacDonald said: “I look forward to the days he tries doing it to Steve Price.”

Originally published as Aussie TikTok star ‘sorry’ but won’t stop controversial acts of kindness