Candle Day at Bath and Body Works: The nasty brawl that went down

A Bath & Body Works in Arizona turned into a scene out of The Jerry Springer Show when a woman was videotaped fighting with staff & customers over some deliciously scented candles. And while we go wild for scents like Japanese cherry blossom, cucumber melon, or fresh linen, we’re still a little baffled at why grown adults would start a fight in a store over candles. 

We’re all a little stir-crazy from being stuck inside during the pandemic, but as the world gets let outside, maybe we can have some composure? Guess not. Let’s dive into this far-from squeaky-clean story, proving why we can’t have nice things like Candle Day after coming out of lockdown. 

What’s Candle Day? 

Candle Day is a mega-sale in February where Bath & Body Works puts a ton of candles on sale. Candle Day in 2020 consisted of one day of online deals and three days of in-store deals. These sales included price slashes the thriftiest candle shopper could only dream of. Prices for hundreds of candles fell from $25-30 to under $10. 

Granted, Candle Day 2020 took place in December, so we don’t know what enticing deal Bath & Body Works had going on to get people out of their houses. We do know that a typical day in this cleansing, scented store turned really dirty, really fast, when an altercation between two shoppers went viral. 

A whole fight just happened at bath & body works 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I’m dying pic.twitter.com/ocumzj8G9f

— Genevieve (@gendenslow) March 6, 2021

Bad manners, worse manners

According to onlookers, the fight began over someone reportedly cutting in line at a Bath & Body Works in Scottsdale, Arizona. Then, it allegedly devolved into racial slurs before turning into an all-out brawl. Then, shown in the footage, the poor Bath & Body Works employees had to step in and separate the women. 

Per The New York Post and AZ Central, witness Genevive Denslow said on Twitter that one woman was caucasian and the other was African American. “She was standing too close to the African American lady who had a child with her”, Denslow said about the caucasian woman. Denslow further explained to AZ Central: “Race wasn’t the initial problem but racial slurs were called during the fight.” 

However it started, Scottsdale police arrived at the scene to finish it. Two women involved in the altercation have been charged, but names haven’t been released as of right now. 

More videos, no comment

More videos emerged after Denslow’s tweet went viral with over 10.5 million views. One showed the women in a verbal argument where one was called “trailer trash” by an onlooker. None of the videos show mall security intervening and it seems like police arrived well after the fight, or at least after the phones stopped recording. 

Bath & Body Works referred the media to their parent company, L Brands, for comment. Scottsdale Fashion Square, the mall where the aforementioned Bath & Body Works brawl took place, told AZ Central they’d release a statement on Monday. As of this writing, they haven’t released a statement about the incident. 

You know those things that come across your feed that are so ridiculous that you have to look them up? I'm sorry to say that AZ Rep Joseph Chaplick really did say we don't need to wear masks bc people didn't wear them to prevent HIV infection. https://t.co/sWm5VmDDLz

— Really Erratic Reader (@ssouth) March 7, 2021

Was the fight about masks? 

While witnesses didn’t mention Arizona’s mask mandate, AZ Rep. Joseph Chaplick from Scottsdale claimed the brawl and the ensuing de-escalation from employees had to do with enforcing mask mandates: “Bath and Body Works employees at Scottsdale Fashion Square are being put in danger by the requirement that they enforce mask mandates. Female employees in the viral video could have been injured.” 

Per AZ Central, Chaplick introduced House Bill 2770, a proposal to make it optional for businesses to enforce mask mandates in Arizona. Chaplick told a radio show the bill was about preserving “freedom and liberties” for people & businesses. Chaplick also reportedly questioned why a mask mandate wasn’t needed during the AIDS crisis. His bill passed in the Arizona House. 

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What’s the most insane fight you’ve seen in public? Did you catch it on camera? Let us know in the comments!