Social media chef Darius Cooks has found a way to profit from the backlash he’s receiving for pivoting from the kitchen to the classroom.
Social media has been buzzing with think pieces and threads of discourse over his viral video ranting about Houston’s Phillis Wheatley High School students.
Cooks, real name Darius Williams, recorded the clip during his lunch break on the first day of classes, Aug. 11, venting about the pupils being illiterate.
He claimed they couldn’t complete simple four-word sentences after reading two passages for a classroom assignment. Viewers who have tracked his two-decade career were irate at his message.
They called him out for badmouthing students on his platforms and for using the classroom setting for content.
Cooks’ response to being labeled a scammer, a grifter, and an opportunist only made matters worse. His petty dig at them was unveiled during an Aug. 12 livestreamed cooking demo.
“If there’s anything you need from the online store tonight, the discount code is the word ‘education’ at checkout… You’re saving 60 percent while I’m live at shopdariuscooks.com,” he said. Cooks streamed for two hours and at one point rattled off his list of teaching qualifications.
“I almost made the discount code somebody’s name, but I said, ‘You know what, Darius? Don’t do that. You a grown man crying.’ You can’t embarrass me for having feelings,” he told followers.
A detractor vented, “This man is here for clicks, and it is absolutely unprofessional to post videos, edited content of you while teaching, in order to promote yourself,” after seeing Cooks “on a TikTok live, making a dish and selling people a pressure cooker from his website.”
“I knew that discount code was coming. I gotta give it to him he really got scamming down packed. His victims are those church ladies. They fall for every grift this POS throws at them,” read a second reaction.
A third commenter stated, “He’s been trying to get rid of these products for yearsss!!! Nobody wants that poorly made mess. May his warehouse in Atlanta stay as full as it’s been for years.”
Cooks previously has been called out for his online business practices, which includes selling cookbooks and kitchenware. Past customers claimed he’s accepted payment but never shipped products. The Better Business Bureau warned patrons about doing business with the entrepreneur.
Y’all know Darius Cooks is a CROOK! He stole all those people recipes online created a cookbook sold it closed all his fake restaurants stole all those people money garnered hella attention on socal media and now he’s about to EXPLOIT this opportunity to teach your children!…
— Morticia Addams 🌹 3:14 (@smoov_cee) August 12, 2026
Critics also raced to prove him unfit to lead Gen Z.
“Y’all remember when folks went PAGE BY PAGE on that man’s cookbook calling out all of the typos and y’all like YEP he’s absolutely right!” an IG Threads user wrote.
Screenshots surfaced in the responses. One person noted, “Not just typos. He was stealing recipes. But to add ….. his own name was spelled wrong on his YouTube channel for YEARS.”
The pile-on continued on Aug. 13 when Cooks hopped on Facebook Live and explained that his courses are career and technical education, freshman hospitality and tourism, sophomore, junior, and senior culinary arts.
View on Threads
The first-year teacher even showed viewers presentation slides from a lesson. A later Facebook post revealed that he still saw himself as a victim.
He wrote, “I know I have a lot of love out there. I know I do. But the number of people who are praying for my downfall needs to be studied. It’s kinda insane.”
Critics aren’t the only ones chiming in on the viral discussion. A purported student claimed the Cooks recorded his emotional video after being trolled.
“This isn’t about reading nor writing, he is upset because we made a joke about him getting ran out of atlanta for all that scamming,” adding, “just now we ARENT DUMB.”
This year, Wheatley has shown tremendous improvements.
The Texas Education Agency rates the school an A on its A-F accountability scale, which is based on student achievement, school progress, and closing the gaps. The state has been in control of HISD schools since 2023.
“Four years ago, Wheatley was an F. There were many more students who could not read at grade level or do math at grade level,” said Superintendent Mike Miles when asked about Cooks’ video.
ABS reached out to Cooks and Wheatley for a response but did not hear back before the deadline.
A district representative also addressed the matter. “The first days of the school year are an important time for teachers to get to know their students’ academic abilities, assess their individual needs, and determine the support each student may require.”
The U.S. News & World Report ranks Wheatley High School at 1,227 out of Texas’ 1,578 schools. It ranks 13,427 out of 17,901 nationally.
A former Wheatley teacher who taught English 1 and 2 before Cook joined the staff defended the students. She also condemned the new hire for gaining followers at the young scholars’ expense.
