The Target in Swansea where the toothbrush controversy took place. (Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio)
by Jon Palmer
SWANSEA, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — It all started over a toothbrush.
That Oral B Pro 5000 electric toothbrush was (apparently mistakenly) marked for sale for $0.01 at a Swansea Target store, and David Leavitt wanted to buy it—but was told by a manager named Tori Perrotti he couldn't have it for just a penny.
The toothbrush lists for $89.99 on Target's website.
Leavitt took the dispute to Twitter, citing the Massachusetts Item Pricing Law that requires food and grocery stores "to sell any item at the lowest price indicated on an item, sign, or advertisement."
He then tweeted that he "had to call the police because @Target refused to sell me the toothbrush."
Leavitt's tweets drew condemnation because he included a photo of Perrotti. Other Twitter users said that amounted to harassing her, and called him "a bad person."
Over the weekend, strangers started a GoFundMe page for Perrotti, called "Send #TargetTori on a Vacation."
"David Leavitt, Award-Winning Multimedia Journalist. Bylines: CBS, AXS, Yahoo, Examiner, etc., harassed this Target employee over an electric toothbrush, and then blasted her on Twitter to his 215k followers," the page's description read. "Lets send her on a vacation."
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, that page raised over $31,000 for Perrotti.
In a statement, #TargetTori thanked everyone who donated for their generosity, and said she was hoping to donate the money to a worthy cause.
"If I have learned anything from this experience, it is that people are good and that these acts of kindness cannot stop with me," she said. "Your support has changed my life."
If you'd like to donate to the GoFundMe, click here.
Leavitt last went viral for an insensitive tweet regarding a 2017 bombing that killed 23 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. Following that controversy, CBS fired the freelancer.
WBZ NewsRadio's Suzanne Sausville (@wbzSausville) reports
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