American record producer Benny Blanco found himself facing negative feedback after sharing his thoughts on Jollibee, a popular Filipino fast-food chain, in a recent TikTok video.
In a three-minute clip, Blanco tried some of Jollibee’s food products, including adobo rice, chicken joy, spaghetti, pineapple juice, and peach mango pie.
“It’s nighttime, work is over, it’s time to try Jollibee, I never had in my life. My stepmom is from the Philippines so I grow up to a sh*t load of Filipino food,” he said.
Blanco’s subsequent expressions of disappointment with the taste, combined with actions like dipping chicken in pineapple juice and spitting out spaghetti, sparked controversy. Filipino netizens widely criticized these actions as “disrespectful” and “insensitive” to Filipino culture.
Many social media users expressed disappointment, with some calling for an apology.
“Benny Blanco, if our food is disgusting to your taste, so are you! You are so rude and disrespectful!!!” said one netizen.
“It’s so disrespectful. It’s ok if the food is not to your taste but spitting out perfectly good food and something that’s so close to Filipino [people’s] hearts. What a rude a** man Benny Blanco,” another one wrote.
“Benny Blanco saying that he grew up eating Filipino food THEN full on disrespecting Jollibee and its Filipino food ESPECIALLY Filipino spaghetti,” another netizen commented.
Blanco, currently dating actress and singer Selena Gomez, has not yet addressed the controversy publicly.