A Dallas food truck owner whose business, Sweetly Seasoned, was highlighted and reviewed by food critic Keith Lee has issued an apology in the wake of the controversy surrounding her failure to disburse part of a four-figure tip meant for an influencer, a barber and to cover various meals and haircuts for the community.
Lee called the owner on TikTok, and her team responded by admitting they “were wrong.”
The young influencer, Sherell Hodge, working in conjunction with the food truck on the day of Lee’s visit says the owner sent her several disparaging remarks before basically telling her and her brother, who cut hair for free at the request of Lee and believing the tip would cover his service, they were not getting the payout they were promised.
“I see y’all giving out haircuts … we want to pay $1,000 to the barber so he can cut everybody else for free,” Lee said in a video on Jan. 31.
Additionally, he expressed his intention to present Hodge with a $1,000 tip, who also braids hair. The total charge on Lee’s card amounted to $4,000, and Hodge mentioned that he placed it on Sweetly Seasoned’s Square account, anticipating sincere compensation for both her and her brother at a later time.
That did not happen. When the owner Kim Viverette found out, she decided to keep all of the tip for herself.
THEN THE OWNER TURNED AROUND AND STIFFED MY BROTHER ON HIS TIP AFTER I TOLD HER SHE COULD KEEP THE MONEY HE LEFT FOR ME! https://t.co/P7hQKsDjdX
— Ess Ess Aché (@essessacheee) February 1, 2024
Viverette said in her own video that Hodge and her brother were not getting the promised tip, causing Lee to chime in the owner reversed her position.
In a TikTok video on Feb. 3, Lee said he took his family to Sweetly Seasoned after seeing them online. He believed everyone working that day was on the same team and that the going-ons of the day were “normal routine.”
He said he knew that the barber and braider were styling hair for $40 a pop, while people waited for their food from the truck. The hustlers said their issue was that there was no promotion or marketing to get clients.
“I was never under the impression that haircut was free,” Lee said, adding, “Again, my family was watching on Live. We knew that he was cutting hair for forty dollars. So when we walked up and I said I want to get $1,000 to the barber to do free haircuts and $1,000 to the braider to braid hair. It was because in the original video.”
According to Lee, he did not appreciate how Viverette’s son asserted that he did not delineate how the money should be dispersed.
“I thought and I still think that that’s a very clear statement but it’s being misconstrued in my opinion, intentionally misconstrued,” Lee continued. “Regardless, of what was going on behind the scenes, I felt in my heart to do what we did. So [to] disregard my heart … and distribute the money how she felt necessary is 100% wrong in my opinion.”
After Lee made his comments on TikTok, the food truck company issued a statement, which read, “Sweetly Seasoned would like to apologize! We thought and believed we were right but unfortunately we were wrong! This has been a huge miscommunication on our part and all funds are being released!”
Sweetly Seasoned has posted an apology after the owner came under fire for taking the entirety of a $4,000 tip left by Keith Lee meant not only for herself, but for others: pic.twitter.com/jioOXS8Cyh
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 3, 2024
Viverette posted another video on Feb. 2 begging Hodges to come pick up the money from her business, noting that the young woman has “refused” to return to her business and let the proprietor make anything right with her and her brother.
Many on social media dragged Viverette for her business practices, with some saying, “She did this because Keith Lee said something. She would never if he hadn’t.”
Another posted, “Too late..trying to steal $2,000 when you could’ve made that daily after Keith Lee blessed your business is crazy.”
Still, there was one comment that summed everything up in seven words, “Woman destroyed her whole business over $2000.”
Viverette has since disabled her company’s Instagram account.
