TikTok stars Charli D’Amelio and Dixie D’Amelio came under fire for the way they treated their personal chef, Aaron May, in a video posted to their family’s YouTube channel.
For the first episode of “Dinner With the D’Amelios,” which has racked up more than 8 million views since its premiere on Monday, November 16, YouTuber and makeup artist James Charles surprised Charli, 16, Dixie, 19, and their parents, Marc D’Amelio and Heidi D’Amelio, at their home for an evening of fine dining.
May, who has appeared on several Food Network shows over the years, prepared a salad, two different paellas and other gourmet dishes that the D’Amelios and Charles, 21, raved about. However, when Dixie noticed a snail folded into the rice, she and Charli began to gag and make faces in front of the chef.
“It brings you good luck and good fortune to eat it,” May, 42, explained of the delicacy as the “Be Happy” singer squirmed in her seat before running outside to throw up.
Marc, 52, called his eldest daughter “dramatic,” while Heidi, 48, brushed it off as “classic Dixie.” Charli, meanwhile, jokingly asked to have “dino nuggets” instead.
In the comments section of the video, which has been trending on YouTube since Monday, viewers were quick to call out Dixie and Charli while expressing sympathy for May.
“They have NO manners they were so rude. James stopped them not there [sic] parents. So sad,” one user wrote. Another commented, “Charli and dixie are influences for god sake! they wonder why they are losing followers!”
While Charli, who is TikTok’s most popular user with 98.7 million followers, has yet to publicly address the backlash, Dixie defended her actions on Wednesday, November 18.
“My family and I have been working with Chef Aaron May for a couple of months now, working on content for our channel and working on content for his channel, and [we’ve] made an amazing friendship,” she said. “Before I even get into anything, I’m so grateful for every single person that follows me, every single person I care about, every single person I work with, every single person who works with me because I’m just so grateful for all of the opportunities I’ve had.”
Dixie, who has 43.8 million TikTok followers, denied that she was “disrespectful” toward May, explaining that she simply has a sensitive stomach.
“My team knows I throw up a lot. I throw up at the smell, the thought or the taste of anything,” she said. “So, when they saw the snails, they were like, ‘Oh, let’s get her and try to see if we can get a reaction out of her.’ … I love [our] chef, and I would never disrespect him in any way.”
The D’Amelios have become internet sensations since they joined TikTok. In recent months, they have been working on launching their own reality TV show.
