A college student named Megan Ashlee Davis recently went viral after her mugshot was circulated online following an alleged dispute that spiraled out of control.
The College Station student in Texas appeared on thousands of feeds, with her teary-eyed mugshot staring at the camera.
However, while the mugshot was genuine, the story of her arrest was far from the truth.
“It’s probably like my worst nightmare coming to reality,” shared Davis in an interview.
Megan Ashlee Davis revealed the truth behind her viral mugshot and the alleged arrest on her social media
Image credits: i.be.meg / Instagram
A few days ago, on October 7, a post shared on the Facebook page Pure Videos claimed that Megan was working as a waitress at Olive Garden.
It was alleged that on the night of October 4, she was arrested in St. Louis, Missouri, after a fight with a couple on a date night who “failed to leave a tip.”
Attached to the post was Davis’ genuine mugshot, along with a caption claiming that she “purportedly slammed the receipt onto their table and vocally exclaimed, ‘Unlimited breadsticks doesn’t mean unlimited free labor!’”
Image credits: i.be.meg / Instagram
It even went on to claim that police officials reported she “then grasped a basket of breadsticks and hurled it at the couple, striking the man in the chest.”
The situation got so out of control that other staff members had to intervene, but not before the college student allegedly “shoved the woman toward the wall” and lashed out at them for not tipping her.
“She was apprehended on charges of a**ault and disorderly conduct,” the post claimed.
Megan had allegedly attacked a couple on date night at Olive Garden for not tipping her
Image credits: megan.davis96 / TikTok
Image credits: megan.davis96 / TikTok
“The incident garnered substantial attention, prompting a customer in the dining room to initiate a livestream. Within hours, clips of the breadstick-throwing meltdown had amassed millions of views…”
As the story gained momentum online, several other social media accounts reshared the news, not just on Facebook, but also on X and TikTok.
In response to the viral story, Megan came forward to share her side and slammed the original post as an “inappropriate” and “AI-generated” hoax spreading a false narrative.
Image credits: megan.davis96 / TikTok
She told Chron, “It’s probably like my worst nightmare coming to reality. People are making very inappropriate comments or AI-generated things with my mugshot.”
According to Megan, the mugshot was actually taken for a first-offense public intoxication charge at the Brazos County Jail on August 21.
The arrest stemmed from her feeling “still very hurt and angry” following the loss of her mother, who had passed away just weeks prior.
Megan was arrested on charges of public intoxication shortly after the passing of her mother
@megan.davis96 Here’s the link to the viral Facebook post. #olivegarden #olivegardenbreadsticks #fakenews @St.Louis Television📺 @Olive Garden @Facebook @TikWoot @TikTok @TikWoot #waitressmeltdown #notclickbait ♬ original sound – Megan Davis
Image credits: Pure videos / Facebook
“I guess at the time I thought I was OK and then I started drinking whatever, went to jail, and that was really embarrassing itself. That was already a low point.”
Despite her and her friends reporting the original post multiple times, it remained online, and several other accounts began circulating similar stories.
In an effort to address the rumors, Davis created a TikTok account.
Image credits: SayCheese Brazos County Mugshots & Arrests / Facebook
Image credits: bustednewspaper
In a video on her handle @megan.davis96, she called out the post and its creator for “character defamation.”
“This [her mugshot] has resurfaced with a different story, like a crazy one at that. My information is being leaked to so many pages, I’m getting texts constantly, and it’s literally insane! The internet is insane!”
She also revealed seeing several explicit AI-generated images of her mugshot on X, which she described as “so disturbing.”
Olive Garden addressed the rumors directly, refuting the claims and supporting Megan’s side of the story
Image credits: olivegarden / Instagram
Ashlee told her viewers that she had also contacted law firms and planned to take legal action against the Facebook user who circulated the fake news.
“I don’t live in St Louis and I’ve never worked at an Olive Garden a day in my life,” she added.
The story became so distorted that Olive Garden issued an official statement to quell the misinformation and protect the college student from further negative attention.
Image credits: olivegarden / Instagram
In the comments section of the original post, the restaurant clarified, “This person does not work for Olive Garden, and the incident described never occurred.”
The statement further called out the page for spreading false information.
“The page that originally shared this false story has posted similar hoaxes involving multiple brands.”
Davis’ mugshot was inappropriately used by anonymous users, who even turned it into several explicit AI-generated images
Image credits: megan.davis96 / TikTok
Image credits: megan.davis96 / TikTok
Although the post was eventually deleted from the Pure Videos Facebook page, the damage to Megan’s reputation had already been done.
The Facebook account responsible for the fake post is verified and has 1.7 million followers.
Before it was removed, the post reportedly garnered 112,000 comments, 101,000 reactions, and 12,000 shares.
Image credits: megan.davis96 / TikTok
Since 2025, Facebook has discontinued third-party fact-checking and no longer penalizes accounts for spreading fake news.
As a result, posts with compelling but false narratives have found fertile ground to thrive on the platform, carving out a niche of their own.
@marmarsbars01 It took like 30 seconds. #olivegarden #waitress #stlouismo #fyp ♬ Adagio in C Minor – Nicholas Britell
“People are disgusting out there, and scary! I feel so small…” Davis shared.
“Justice for Megan. Free unlimited breadsticks for life @Olive Garden,” wrote one user in support of the hoax victim
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