Renowned butcher and restaurateur Nusret Gökçe, known as Salt Bae, apparently left a bad taste in many people’s mouths after he surrounded the Argentina soccer team on the field after Sunday’s World Cup win.
Gökçe was captured in several videos posted on social media excitedly posing and taking photos and videos with Argentina’s players moments after winning the World Cup title after beating France on penalties.
Even the restaurateur was captured holding the World Cup trophy in online videos and in a photo she posted on her Instagram account on Monday. One video showed Gökçe grabbing Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s arm as the soccer star tried to leave, although the famous butcher posted another clip on his Instagram Story on Monday showing Messi shaking his hand.
Apparently, it wasn’t the first time the soccer star met Gökçe; in 2018, the butcher was caught preparing a steak for Messi in a YouTube video.
People on Twitter accused Gökçe of being pushy and trying to steal the limelight from the Argentina team as they celebrated their important win. Other Twitter users questioned why he had such close access to the team and whether he was even allowed to hold the trophy, which “can only be touched and held by a very select group of people,” according to FIFA’s website .
FIFA did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Turkish restaurateur, who has opened steakhouses around the world — and faced several workplace discrimination lawsuits at his Manhattan restaurant — became an internet star in 2017 after videos of him sprinkling salt on steak in an exaggerated way they went viral on social media.
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