Twitter Rallies Around TikTok Influencer Keith Lee As He Responds To TV Producer Who Appeared To Accuse Him Of Stealing Idea

TikTok users are engaged in a heated conversation as they rally around food influencer Keith Lee, who became popular for reviewing food items from Las Vegas restaurants.

The drama went viral on Sunday when a TV producer named Gyllian posted a video saying a food critic stole her TV show idea. Although she didn’t identify anybody by name, the producer said the content creator first rejected her concept when she approached them but proceeded to use the plan.

After Gyllian posted the video, writing #FoodCriticAndThief in the description, people concluded she was talking about Lee.

“I didn’t know if I was gonna address this or not, but I’m just so disappointed and so frustrated about this situation that I think I’m just gonna have to say something,” she said in the video. “Recently, there’s a creator here on TikTok that is beloved by all. I even love them and still think they would make great TV. I pitched them an idea to take to networks, and they basically said no in a nice way, but then stole my f**king idea. They just stole it, and now they’re doing it.”

A day later, Lee, an MMA fighter, defended himself in a TikTok video.

“There’s some unnamed controversy going around, and I keep getting brought up, and I had an interaction with the person that made this video, so let’s talk about it,” he said.

Lee said the producer had reached out to him for a TV show idea which involves him dressing up in a disguise, picking up food from restaurants and reviewing the items.

However, the food critic said he rejected the idea because he had already set up meetings with other creators that pitched a similar plan. He also said he has received the same pitch from dozens of his fans.

“I had anywhere between 2 million and 3 million followers at the time she reached out to me, of course, I wasn’t in disguise at that point,” Lee added. “I personally was able to walk into restaurants and be treated the exact same, because not a lot of restaurants recognized me.”

With 9.6 million followers now, Lee said it’s almost impossible not to be recognized.

“That’s why I [started] going into disguise,” he said.

Gyllian posted another video Tuesday, saying she wasn’t talking about Lee.

“Keith … that video was not about you,” Gyllian said. “I did not think you would think that video was about you because our interactions were very minimal.”

Gyllian shared part of the email she sent to Lee. According to the email, the plan was for Lee to keep doing what he was doing on social media but to format the content for TV production.

“I’m not gonna apologize for being frustrated about someone stealing an idea from me,” she continued. “Keith, this is for you: That video was not about you. … There was nothing for you to steal. I would not accuse you of stealing something that didn’t really exist. … I didn’t pitch you an idea that was original, I didn’t pitch you an idea that was even mine.”

Lee has not addressed Gyllian’s latest video, but social media users have come to his defense and agree that she should have cleared it up if she was not talking about Lee.