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Who is Sam Johnson? VisuWell CEO accused of homophobia for harassing teenager who wore dress to prom in video

'You look disgusting, you look ridiculous, you look like an idiot,' Johnson reportedly told the teenager

A shocking video from April 2021 has surfaced online that showed VisuWell CEO Sam Johnson harassing a teenager at his prom. The video, which was filmed at a hotel lobby before the prom at Franklin High School in Tennessee, shows Johnson verbally harassing a teenage boy who attended the prom wearing a red dress. 

The video was taken on Saturday, April 24, by the victim's boyfriend Jacob Geittmann and soon went viral on TikTok and Twitter. Geittmann said that his boyfriend Dalton wore the dress to the prom to make a statement against the taboo of men wearing dresses. "He looked gorgeous, everybody loved it and nobody had a problem with it," Geittmann shared before narrating how Sam Johnson harassed him at the venue.

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Who is Sam Johnson?

Sam Johnson is the 46-year-old CEO of VisuWell, which is described as a 'modern consumer-friendly platform for virtual care delivery'. Prior to launching VisuWell in August 2017, Johnson served as the CEO of WeCounsel as well as the Founder and CEO of Relatient for five years which was a patient outreach and messaging platform. 

VisuWell was recently chosen by the University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio as their telemedicine partner. According to his LinkedIn profile, Sam Johnson has nearly 25 years of experience in healthcare technology, working in leadership roles at different firms. He hails from Franklin, Tennessee. 

After he harassed the teenager on April 24, he was criticized and asked to 'calm down' by the mothers of the students there. He was later kicked out by hotel staff for his problematic behavior. As soon as the video went viral, Johnson deleted his Twitter account. However, his company is continuing to face pressure from netizens for his removal from the CEO position. VisuWell also appears to have removed the 'Meet Our CEO' page from their website following the backlash.

'You look disgusting, you look ridiculous'

Speaking about the harassment faced by his boyfriend, Jacob Geittman said, "We went to this hotel close to where we live and we got a lot of good photos and we were there for about an hour and right as we were about to leave we were standing outside in this little middle area with a bunch of buildings surrounding us. This man comes up and he’s about an inch away from my boyfriend and he says, ‘What are you wearing?’ And he’s like, ‘A dress, why?’ And he’s like, ‘Why are you wearing that? You shouldn’t be wearing that."

Johnson reportedly continued to verbally harass the teenager, saying, "You look disgusting, you look ridiculous, you look like an idiot. Men shouldn’t be wearing this." Later, he even hit Dalton as the teenager started to walk away. In the video clip, Geittman can be seen following Johnson with his phone camera as he smirks and shrugs without any sign of remorse for his behavior. He even hits Geittman's phone in a bid to make him stop recording. 

Towards the end of the video, Dalton can be heard saying, "I'm sorry, I'm gorgeous," to which Johnson smirks and replies, "Are you?" Johnson's behavior was vehemently called out on social media as the video started being widely circulated. 

"If this is Sam Johnson in Nashville, Tennessee, the CEO of @VisuWell, healthcare-tech-growth strategist, married to Jill Johnson where they may reside in Franklin, Tennessee, it seems like he’s dying to be online famous," author Kathy Griffin identified him.

"What kind of person harasses a teenager who they have no relation to in a public place. What an arrogant, entitled ass. I feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with him. Yuck," one user wrote, while another tagged VisuWell and wrote, "Hey @VisuWell... YOUR CEO SAM JOHNSON IS A HOMOPHOBE AND ASSAULTED TEENAGERS AT THEIR PROM. #VISUWELL #SAMjohnson"