San Francisco Chef Canned After Making ‘Micro-Influencer’ Cry For Saying She Isn’t Famous Enough for Free Meal

A San Francisco chef was fired and a restaurant is temporarily closing following a TikTok influencer targeting the establishment for not offering her and her husband a free meal.

TikTok food influencer @itskarlabb, who goes by Karla, posted a video describing her recent experience at the Kis Cafe wine bar in San Francisco. She claimed she was left “crying” after a confrontation with award-winning chef Luke Sung. She did not name the chef or restaurant, but social media sleuths were quick to identify the establishment.

According to the influencer, she was invited to the restaurant as part of a promotional campaign, but she was allegedly informed by Sung that her 15,000 followers were not enough to warrant a free meal in exchange for promotion. The self-described micro-influencer now has more than 300,000 followers following her viral July 23 post.

“He is not having it, saying to the host that he shouldn’t have invited me and that this was a mistake and that this was bad,” @itskarlabb recalled about allegedly overhearing Sung question why she was invited to the event.

She said that her direct conversation with the chef was immediately tense.

“He says, ‘Did you do any research on this restaurant? Do you know what we do? Do you know who we are?'” she said.

The chef allegedly told her that her followers would not be the kind of patrons the restaurant was looking for as he watched some her content in the restaurant. According to Karla, the chef berated the host for inviting the influencer and told her it was a “mistake” that she was there at all.

@itskarlabbits a long video and not something i would normally upload but i feel like i had to talk about this experience. i basically ran out of there but i wish i would’ve stood up for myself. if you are a micro influencer i know it’s easy to feel discouraged at times but don’t let anyone make you feel small or unimportant!!♬ original sound – itskarlabb

Kis Cafe released a statement following the video going viral, calling Sung’s behavior “unacceptable.” The local NBC affiliate out of the Bay Area reported that the co-owner of the wine bar said they have received threats since the viral post.

“Our chef’s behavior was unacceptable and he is no longer part of the team as a co-owner, a chef or in any other way. As of this post, he has reached out to the creator with a personal apology. That behavior does not reflect the remainder of our team. We want to create a space that’s welcoming and respectful to everyone. In this instance, we failed to do so,” the statement reads.

The restaurant added that they are temporarily closing for a restructure after the incident. The local NBC affiliate out of the Bay Area reported that the co-owner of the wine bar said they have received “violent threats” since the viral post.

“We understand the frustration and anger, but please do not use this lapse in our values as an opportunity to foment racism and hate speech towards us and our loved ones,” the statement reads.

Watch above via NBC Bay Area.