People Are Calling Out Salt Bae For Surrounding Argentina's Team At World Cup

Soccer fans are questioning why the celebrity restaurateur was posing for pictures with the team shortly after their victory.
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Celebrity butcher and restaurateur Nusret Gökçe, known as Salt Bae, apparently left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths after he surrounded Argentina’s soccer team on the field after their World Cup victory on Sunday.

Gökçe was captured in several videos posted on social media posing and eagerly taking photos and videos with the Argentine players moments after winning the World Cup title after defeating France in a penalty shootout.

The restaurateur was also captured holding the World Cup trophy in videos online, and in a photo he posted on his Instagram account on Monday. One video showed Gökçe grabbing Argentina team captain Lionel Messi by the arm as the soccer star tried walking away — although the famous butcher posted another clip on his Instagram Story on Monday that showed Messi shaking his hand.

It apparently wasn’t the first time the soccer star met Gökçe; in 2018 the butcher was captured preparing a steak for Messi in a YouTube video.

People on Twitter accused Gökçe of being intrusive and trying to steal the spotlight from Argentina’s team as they celebrated their momentous win. Other Twitter users wondered 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 the FIFA website.

FIFA did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Turkish restaurateur, who has opened steakhouses around the world — and has faced multiple workplace discrimination lawsuits at his Manhattan restaurant — became an internet sensation in 2017 after videos of him sprinkling salt on steak in an exaggerated way went viral on social media.

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