‘They All Had Pocket Knives’: South Carolina Restaurant Forced to Shut Off Phones After Video Shows White Management Surrounding Black Food Critic, Calling Cops on Him
What could have been a good business deal turned into a chaotic scene at a South Carolina restaurant after the manager kicked out a social media food critic.
In a video posted on TikTok Monday, influencer “Ben A Critic” claimed the owner and manager of Percy & Willie’s Food and Spirits repeatedly touched, leaned on, and pushed him – even after he begged them to stop.
“All I wanted to do was get my food review,” Ben said in the video.
The reviewer, who said he only weighs “100 something pounds,” walked into the restaurant to try the food and give his honest take. As he walked through the restaurant, the video shows other customers recognizing him and telling him they were excited to see him.
“There’s a server just willing to take you ’cause it’s you,” the hostess said.
Ben is best known for his no-holds-barred restaurant review videos.
The video shows the influencer walking over to the bar, where the manager suddenly demanded that he come to the front door.
“See, I thought he wanted to talk some business, but then I noticed his face and body language,” Ben said in a voice-over in the video.
“I’m asking you to leave the business,” the manager said.
“Why?”
“We don’t allow videoing in here,” the manager said. The video then shows him telling someone to “call the police.”
Other TikTok videos show white customers filming their experience in the establishment. It’s unclear if they spoke to the manager.
Ben claimed in the video that the confrontation lasted 15 seconds before the men began dialing 911. He repeatedly told the manager he didn’t have an issue leaving, but he did have an issue with how he was being treated.
“What did I do wrong? I literally sat down and ordered my food,” Ben said.
At one point in the video, Ben said the owner and manager started touching and pushing him with their bodies.
“I asked him not to touch me 30,000 times. He and the manager got a touching problem,” Ben said in a voice-over. “I felt very uncomfortable in this situation. I was surrounded by a lot of angry men, and they all had pocket knives. Not to mention, they kept touching me.”
The video cuts to the owner, the man in orange, allegedly telling the police Ben assaulted him.
“He’s already assaulted me right in my face.”
“Ain’t nobody assault you, boy. … That’s how innocent people get locked up right there. If I didn’t have my own evidence, he would have swore up and down I hit him,” Ben said.
The video shows Ben walking out of the restaurant with the men as customers cheer for him.
“That’s alright, I still love you,” one customer yelled.
Atlanta Black Star tried calling the restaurant multiple times, but the number appears to be disconnected.
Upon further digging, Atlanta Black Star also found that the owners of Percy & Willie’s appear to be deleting negative reviews on Google. The business’s Yelp page has been suspended.
According to Google, the business is still open.
“GRAND OPENING, GRAND CLOSING,” Lady Swann commented on the video.
“They hated the fact that everyone loved this young man,” @LEEZY added.
“Bro was too popular. Manager got jealous,” @bearcov wrote.
“The crazy thing is, he coulda helped get y’all more business,” @ookilocs said.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Ben to learn more about the confrontation, but we have not heard back.