Food blogger Darius Cooks may be better suited for the kitchen than leading Gen Z in the classroom.
The social media personality, whose real name is Darius Williams, is known for his food-related ventures, live cooking demos, and a lengthy history of scam allegations.
Over the past 15 years, he has amassed a following of more than 2,681,000 followers across social platforms and appeared on the Food Network.
He recently added education to his résumé with a career pivot in Texas that has people questioning his motivation.
Cooks was humbled two days into lessons at Phillis Wheatley High School on Aug. 11. He went viral for posting about his students’ poor academic performance in the Houston school.
“I literally broke down in the middle of class because I’m teaching seniors. These kids are leaving high school and going to college, hopefully, after they finish,” Cooks began, his face becoming streaked with tears during a lunch break.
Cooks recorded the video after asking his class to read two paragraphs and to write a sentence about the material.
“I basically completed the sentence for them in the model. These are 17 and 18-year-old kids, and they couldn’t fill in four words. Four words! … I gave them the answers before we had the problem and they couldn’t do it,” he said.
“I have seniors who simply cannot read and seniors who cannot write,” he continued, his fist pounding on the table, further emphasizing the problem.
Fans sympathized with his plight, some even sharing their experiences of teaching for decades and witnessing the literacy decline. Others encouraged him to continue teaching.
However, his reputation for allegedly conning supporters, running restaurants into the ground, stealing money, and engaging in deceptive business practices precedes him.
Some of the outrage regarding his new gig includes: “IKYFL. What is he teaching? Scamming 101?” asked one person.
Another said, “Darius Crooks rebranding as a teacher concerned about the literacy crisis as if he wasn’t slinging refurbished George Foremans must mean we’ve reached a new realm in the matrix.”
A third person noted, “They let Darius teach?!? He must be a sub because I don’t see him going through the process of getting nobody’s teacher’s license.”
According to Cooks’ Facebook, he is “three courses into his Masters of Education (Curriculum and Instruction) at American College of Education. And he quietly passed his content certification over the summer to be a CERTIFIED teacher. He also finished his certification coursework and all he needs is his field hours – which he will get over the next two weeks when school starts. Oh, and he’s also ServSafe certified and getting his doctorate degree in Education once he finished his Masters degree.”
Even more people noticed that classroom prep, a first day of school recap, and, of course, his viral venting session have been incorporated into his trove of posts.
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A skeptic shared, “I gotta ask, is he in the classroom purely as a new hustle for content? That man will run any and every play to make a dolla!”
Another individual doubtful of Cooks’ professional evolution wrote, “His gofundme to ‘help the kids learn’ is coming.”
The self-taught chef’s empire began to crumble in 2019. He agreed to pay $145,750 in restitution and penalties to the state of Georgia and stiffed patrons who sought assistance through his credit repair service, Above 701.
More complaints followed when customers, former business partners, and celebrity chefs exposed his alleged misdeeds.
The Better Business Bureau of Metro Atlanta warned people about his enterprise, Darius Cooks LLC, in 2021 amid reports that cookware, cookbooks, and dining experiences were not honored after payment. The organization’s statement read, “BBB advises consumers to use caution when doing business with DariusCooks, LLC.”
He was nicknamed “Darius Crooks” in 2022, a moniker he has yet to shed.
