DA’s Office Employing Chef Way Defends Him After Colorist, Misogynistic And Fatphobic Tweets Resurface
TikTok food creator Waymond Wesley, known under his alias Chef Way, is catching heat for old tweets.
Twitter sleuths found triggering tweets from Wesley dating back to 2015. The content of several posts was colorist, misogynistic and fatphobic. The Houston-based influencer often targeted and harassed darker-skinned Black women. According to BuzzFeed News, Wesley cropped a dark-skinned model out of a photo with a light-skinned one and captioned the image, complaining that the dark-skinned model “messed up the pic.”
The off-putting tweets came from Wesley’s now-deleted account, @WaymoTheGod. One of the most heinous ones shared was, “Black b*****s make for good punching bags.”
His old tweets became a topic of discussion after he posted a recipe for oxtail pasta. Followers quickly remembered Wesley’s previous persona, calling out his re-brand, and began serving screenshots.
One user posted a screenshot of a tweet where Wesley referenced Sandra Bland, who was found dead in her jail cell three days after being arrested during a traffic stop in 2015. Her death, which was ruled a suicide, sparked the influencer to tweet: “If black lives mattered to Sandra Bland, she wouldn’t have taken her own life. I’m serious too.”
Users even dug up old tweets where Wesley’s mother openly disapproved of her son’s hatred toward Black women.
Wesley has since amassed over 250k followers on his TikTok page sharing food content. In 2021, he became a Harris County, Texas, district attorney’s office prosecutor.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s reaction to the tweets left a bad taste in people’s mouths.
She released a statement to BuzzFeed News, describing herself as a “believer in second chances.”
Ogg added, “These posts were inappropriate and offensive and do not reflect my values or those of the Harris County district attorney’s office. Mr. Wesley has explained that these posts came during a period in which he was struggling with serious personal issues, including alcohol addiction.”
The cooking attorney also issued a statement tweet apologizing for his past actions.
“To those I’ve hurt with my past tweets that have resurfaced, I am deeply sorry. That was a moment in my life where I was sick in more ways than one. Cooking saved me. You have watched a flawed man heal. I will continue to heal and learn. Thanks for being along for the journey,” he tweeted.
A significant consequence that Wesley faces for his past online activity is losing major endorsements and partnership deals with food industry giants.
Appliance maker Anova Culinary quickly distanced itself after users flooded the company’s mentions drawing attention to the scandal.
The brand’s owner, Stephen Svajian, released an accompanying statement, saying “We want to partner with individuals that reflect our own values.”
Food and travel network Tastemade also confirmed its distance from the chef.
“We’re shocked and disappointed to see this past behavior coming from a partner creator; behavior that we do not condone and certainly does not align with our values. He has been removed from our platform, and we do not plan to collaborate in the future,” the brand wrote on Twitter.
The post DA’s Office Employing Chef Way Defends Him After Colorist, Misogynistic And Fatphobic Tweets Resurface appeared first on The New York Beacon.
