this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2024
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because you said they never intended on giving the kid the gift. It doesn't matter what they intended. They literally did give the kid the gift. and it isn't a joke in any sense of the word. They gave the kid a gift, turned off the cameras, and took it back and gave him something else. That's just theft. It's not a joke, there's nobody that would see it as a joke, it's not even possible to interpret it as a joke, as who would be the audience?
Gift law, what the original person was talking about, literally states that the donor must intend on giving the gift.
If you come over to my house and say "hey, nice PS5" and I say "you want it? It's yours!" and then before you leave I say "I was just joking, you can't leave with my PS5." You really think you can go to the police and have me charged with theft?
If you did it on fucking tv then yes, you absolutely can, you’ve made your intent clear to tens of thousands, if not millions of people. You don’t get to take the intent back when the cameras turn off. The timing here matters.
That's mixing up actions with intent. Their actions made it seem like it was a gift, sure. Their intent was that it was a prank. They even told the uncle it was a prank from the start.
If I go to a store an stick a PS5 into my jacket I can't be charged with theft. It looks like theft, but intent to steal needs to be shown. How do they know my intent isn't to pay for it? It's not theft until I leave the store without paying. Just like sticking a PS5 into my jacket isn't instantly theft, handing someone a PS5 isn't instantly a gift. Actions and intent are different things.
The article has been updated to say they're actually giving the kid a PS5 because of the bad press so in the end they're doing the right thing anyways.