Houston-based chef Waymond Wesley, who goes by the handle Chef Way on TikTok, is being held accountable by social media users over his past tweets insulting Black women.
The chef recently gained attention for a video of him making oxtail pasta that was viewed over 2.1 million times on Twitter. However, this attention led to social media users discovering his past problematic tweets, trolling Black women viciously for sport.
Twitter users dug up old tweets from Wesley, dating back to 2015 and 2016, in which he made disparaging comments against Black women, particularly those with dark skin. In one tweet, Wesley, who was tweeting under the username @WaymoTheGod, suggested that “if black lives mattered to Sandra Bland she wouldn’t have taken her own life.” In another, he commented on a photo of a dark-skinned Black woman and said “smh the dark one messed up the pic.”
Wesley’s comments, which users referred to as misogynoir and colorism, were met with backlash on social media. People called out Wesley for his harmful language and harassment, and also criticized him for attempting to rebrand himself.
In response to the criticism, Wesley posted an apology on Twitter, saying that he had been “sick in more ways than one” during the period in which he made the controversial comments. He also credited cooking with saving him.
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.
However, many users found Wesley’s apology lacking, noting that he had addressed the controversy differently on different platforms.
On Twitter, where the comments went viral and where he has a smaller following, Wesley apologized quickly, but on TikTok, where he has a much larger following, he waited 17 hours to address the issue.
In the end, Wesley eventually posted an apology on TikTok after saying sorry to Twitter users, but it didn’t stop him from from being dragged by users.
The controversy also led to him losing at least one source of his income. Dozens of twitter users tagged Anova Culinary in tweets shaming the disgraced chef who has posts sponsored by the company. The cooking device company eventually announced they’d be parting ways with Wesley in a tweet, citing that the chef’s action didn’t align with their values.
Yikes! The chef hasn’t commented any further on the situation.
