He’s been sacked, his resturant has been forced to close, and now chef Luke Sung has issued a lengthy apology after he told “micro influencer” Karla Marcotte that her follower count was too low for an event.
Much like the controversial Jubilee debate video and the American woman in Pakistan, this is yet another story that spiralled out of control after a TikTok went viral. It involved an influencer called Karla Marcotte, who was kicked out of a resturant event for having a measly follower count, and some TikTok detectives who found the specific resturant and chef she was complaining about in her video.
Here’s everything we know so far, before any other twists emerge.
Karla Marcotte was invited to Luke Sung’s resturant for a promotion
@itskarlabb its a long video and not something i would normally upload but i feel like i had to talk about this experience. i basically ran out of there but i wish i would’ve stood up for myself. if you are a micro influencer i know it’s easy to feel discouraged at times but don’t let anyone make you feel small or unimportant!!
This truly crazy story started earlier this month when “micro influencer” Karla Marcotte was invited to Luke Sung’s Kis Cafe resturant in the Bay Area of San Francisco. She was welcomed by the host of the event, and began filming content, but once she had been seated, Karla overheard the chef beefing the host about her invite. He reportedly slandered her follower count, something which was confirmed during a confrontation a few minutes later.
The chef, later identified as Luke Sung by some TikTok sleuths, once again dissed her follower count as he argued that her audience was not the type of customer he wanted at the resturant. Luke allegedly began to brag about his own kids, influencers Isa Sung and Sunki, stating Karla was not “at that level.”
“You don’t need to have a million followers to be respected or feel like you’re making a difference,” she said.
Karla proceeded to leave the resturant without eating, posting the TikTok a short while later without naming the resturant or the chef. She claimed she was left “crying” and “shaking” over the drama.
He was sacked and the resturant closed as a result
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Karla’s initial TikTok has since been viewed nearly 23 million times, garnering celebrity attention as locals said they would never visit Kis Cafe again. As a result, Luke Sung was essentially booted from the business, both in a chef capacity and as co-owner.
On its Instagram story, Kis Cafe said that Luke’s behaviour was “unacceptable” and said he was “no longer part of the team as a co-owner, a chef or in any other way.”
Following an onslaught of negative press, one-star reviews, and thousands of hateful messages, the resturant decided to close to “restructure after these events.”
“In the meantime, we hope to still be able to sustain the livelihoods of our team members and their families,” the restaurant added. “Lastly, we understand the frustration and anger, but please do not use this lapse in our values as an opportunity to foment racism and hate speech towards us and our loved ones.”
The chef has since issued an apology
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Though Luke Sung no longer has social profiles of his own, and he’s no longer connected to Kis Cafe, the resturant allowed his lengthy apology message to be posted to its account.
He wrote: “Hi everyone- I am Luke Sung (previous chef of Kis Cafe). It was important for me to first apologise to Karla privately and step away from Kis cafe before publicly apologising. Karla – I am truly sorry for my actions towards you. I was condescending, hurtful, and intimidating. You did not deserve to be made to feel less than or unimportant; nobody does. Regardless, I thank you for teaching me a valuable lesson in kindness and respect. There are no excuses to be made, and I’ve decided it’s time for me to step away from Kis cafe permanently and in all capacities.
“I also want to be clear the responsibility of this whole situation is mine alone and my behaviour should not be a reflection on anyone else who works there, or anyone who is related to me. I truly care about my staff and am devastated that my actions have impacted both them and their families. I have worked with many of the employees at the restaurant for years and they are incredible people who don’t deserve to suffer due to my behaviour.
He also apologised to his daughter before adding: “I am sorry for disrespecting all of your efforts and hard work to build your careers. To Karla, my kids, and everyone else in the hospitality industry, I hope you will accept my apology and thank you for taking the time to listen to me. Sincerely, Luke Sung.”
Ironically, in some viral beef that started because Karla’s lack of followers, her count has since shot from 15k to 401k followers.
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Featured image credit: ABC/Karla Marcotte
