Restaurant publicly shames Instagram celeb for trying to eat for free

A restaurant owner has publicly called out an Instagram influencer after they tried to eat for free in exchange for exposure.

Celebrities and influencers asking for free stuff has certainly become a hot topic in recent times. Last year, it sparked so-called “cake gate” – a viral scandal that erupted over a request to an independent bakery for a free birthday cake for an actress's 40th birthday.

It seems business owners have had enough of people trying to take advantage of them, as one restaurant roasted an influencer who tried to blag a freebie.

In an Instagram story, Manchester-based ramen restaurant LÜCKY shared a screenshot of a “thrilling DM” they had received from a “blue tick superstar”.

The message showed the unnamed influencer asking for “a collab” that they seemed to think would be a free meal in exchange for a “post on my story and page”.

LÜCKY continued: “We’re just thrilled you appreciate our food, but hey, we appreciate paying customers even more.”

After the restaurant shared it on their stories, it seems the Instagrammer took offence and sent them a long message, writing: “Personally, I think you’re bang out of order. How dare you try and expose us like that?”

They appeared to suggest that they would be doing the restaurant a favour by “supplying” them with their “time, labour, effort and positive energy”.

The whole exchange was posted on the grid of LÜCKY’s Instagram account, where the restaurant owners were praised for highlighting the shocking entitlement of the influencer.

In the caption, they wrote: “Dear angry influencer. Okay, aaalright… you got us! We’re truly sorry for attempting to uncover your behind-the-scenes tactics yesterday and, you know, us trying to make a living and s**t.”

Some in the comments asked them to expose who the influencer is.

One person wrote: “Expose them. They don’t deserve a following with this type of attitude.”

Another joked: “I don’t get it, they’re offering you FREE labour and POSITIVE vibes!! Who could resist that?!?”

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