A Texas college student found herself at the center of unwanted attention after her mugshot was shared widely online, accompanied by a fabricated story. The incident occurred shortly after she was arrested for public intoxication following the death of her mother, leaving her feeling embarrassed and exposed.

Megan Ashlee Davis, who attends school in College Station, Texas, was depicted in a tearful yet striking mugshot taken in August. This image quickly gained traction on social media, but not for reasons related to her actual arrest.

The viral sensation was fueled by a fictional narrative claiming that Davis was apprehended in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the false tale, she allegedly threw breadsticks at patrons in an Olive Garden restaurant because they refused to tip, shouting, “unlimited breadsticks doesn’t mean unlimited free labor” before being arrested on charges of assault and disorderly conduct.

The post alleged she shouted ‘unlimited breadsticks doesn’t mean unlimited free labor’ and was ultimately arrested on ‘charges of assault and disorderly conduct.’

None of the story was real, but Davis’ mugshot went viral and even though she was not named in the fake story, social media sleuths were able to track her down.

‘It’s probably like my worst nightmare coming to reality,’ Davis told Chron. 

‘People are making very inappropriate comments or AI-generated things with my mugshot.’

She claimed the mugshot was actually taken after a night out drinking on the town got out of hand.

Megan Ashlee Davis, a student at College Station in Texas, was pictured teary-eyed in a glamorous mugshot in August.

Davis attempted to report the fake post and asked her friends to do the same, but for days it remained and began popping up on other, similar pages

At the time, she was grieving her mother’s death from weeks prior and felt ‘still very hurt and angry.’ 

‘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.’ 

Olive Garden attempted to step in and quell the rumors, writing on the initial post:  ‘This person does not work for Olive Garden, and the incident described never occurred. 

‘The page that originally shared this false story has posted similar hoaxes involving multiple brands,’ the restaurant chain added.

Davis attempted to report the post and asked her friends to do the same, but for days it remained and began popping up on other, similar pages.

The post stated police had described her arrest as a ‘gratuity dispute that got out of control.’

‘Witnesses say the waitress had been serving a couple on a date night who ran up a $94 bill with pasta, wine and appetizers. When they left no tip, she allegedly slammed the receipt onto their table,’ the fake post continued.

In a TikTok video discussing the fallout, Davis said she had seen AI-generated content on X in which her mugshot had been turned into an explicit video

Olive Garden attempted to step in and quell the rumors, writing on the initial post: ‘This person does not work for Olive Garden, and the incident described never occurred’

‘As staff intervened, she shoved the woman toward the wall and accused them of ”stealing her wages”.’ 

In a TikTok video discussing the fallout, Davis said she had seen AI-generated content on X in which her mugshot had been turned into an explicit video.

‘It’s so disturbing. It’s disgusting. I’ve tried to report the post. Facebook is not taking it down,’ she said.

Davis said she had been in touch with law firms regarding the fake post. 

‘I don’t live in St Louis and I’ve never worked at an Olive Garden a day in my life,’ she said.

Davis said she created a TikTok account solely to address the viral story, because she had since learned that videos were being created on the app about it.

The original post with the fake Olive Garden story has since been deleted.