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Salt Bae shredded online after 'illegal' World Cup antics, but he's no stranger to controversy

Salt Bae was hit with a $5 million copyright infringement lawsuit by a Brooklyn artist, who claims that the chef used his artwork without permission

LUSAIL, QATAR: The nail-biting 2022 FIFA World Cup final match saw Argentina defeating two-time champions France on Sunday, December 18. But it also witnessed how Turkish chef Nusr-et Gokce, better known as Salt Bae, crashed Argentina's World Cup trophy celebrations at the Lusail Stadium leaving many fans angry.

The chef posted pics on Instagram while breaking FIFA's etiquette by holding the 18-carat gold trophy, worth $20 million. As per Irish Mirror, FIFA states, "The original FIFA World Cup Trophy can only be touched and held by a very select group of people, which includes former winners of the FIFA World Cup and heads of state."

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However, he was soon slammed on Twitter as “pathetic” for his attention-seeking antics. An individual wrote, "Salt Bae proving how pathetic he is, by incessantly harassing players for his next instagram pic, during one of the biggest moments in the history of sports..is just too perfect. Well done Salt Bae (what An idiotic name in an of itself) the world now knows EXACTLY what you are." Another wrote, "All the videos of Salt Bae yesterday putting himself in the celebration of the Argentine players was so cringy to watch. Someone with massive Main Character Syndrome. Pathetic."

Many bashed him after he was spotted repeatedly grabbing Lionel Messi's arm to get a selfie until the player relented and posed for a picture. A user wrote, "Salt bae is quite a creep in more ways than one! He’s literally harassing Messi. How did he reach backstage!" "Messi deserves another World Cup for not giving a single f**k about Salt Bae," wrote another.

Salt Bae's never-ending controversies

Bill worth $167K: The chef is no stranger to controversy. Prior to this incident, he drew criticism for sharing a picture of a bill amounting to a whopping AED 615,065, approx $167K. The caption read, "Quality never expensive." Commenting on the picture, one wrote, "That’s actually disgusting.” While another said, “How to waste your money." Salt Bae has come under fire multiple times for the exorbitantly priced food at his restaurants.

$5M copyright suit: Salt Bae is facing a $5 million copyright infringement lawsuit by a Brooklyn artist, who claims that the chef used his artwork without permission. William Hicks says he and fellow artist Joseph Iurato were hired by the chef in September 2017 to make a mural of the Turkish restaurateur “in his signature salt-sprinkling pose,” according to a Manhattan federal lawsuit, as reported by the New York Post. The 2021 suit charges stated, "Defendants were engaging in widespread, unauthorized distribution and use of the original works in, among other places, Nusr-et’s steakhouses and Saltbae Burger restaurants in New York, Dubai, and Istanbul."

Reunion video with his mother: In December 2021, he shared a video on Instagram of reuniting with his mother after two years. “Cennet. I saw my mother after two years,” he captioned the video which has now 9M views. In the video, he and his mother are seen engaging in a chat, and towards the end, he bows and kisses her hand. But netizens were quick to slam him with one commenting, "Buy your mom a new house!! What a shame !!!!!!!!! Do something for her!!! She’s not living! Too bad for her to see her son having all this money not visiting her and letting her stay at a house like this."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.