Salt Bae recently took a photo with Lionel Messi after Argentina won the world cup. During these photos, however, Salt Bae made a terrible mistake: he decided to pick up the World Cup trophy and hold it over his own head. According to FIFA, the trophy can only ever be touched by champions, heads of state, and other important figures.
Salt Bae Never Won a World Cup
The controversy between celebrities and the 2022 World Cup seems to have permeated the tournament throughout its run. The opening ceremony was under fire from celebrities like Dua Lipa, who boycotted it due to ideological differences with host country Qatar. If that wasn’t intense enough, after Argentina’s amazing 4-2 win in a penalty shootout against France, Salt Bae decided to ruin the mood with his nonstop attention-seeking.
In one of his videos, Salt Bae can be seen pretending to sprinkle salt over the cup in his trademark fashion. This video was taken while he was standing next to another Argentina team member, Lisandro Martinez. It also looked like Salt Bae was trying to take it off of Martinez’s hands, which would’ve made the controversy even worse. Fans criticized him for shameful behavior, calling his antics “embarrassing and stating that he had zero respect for the trophy or those that won it.
Salt Bae shared a series of photos and videos on his Instagram featuring Messi in a ham-fisted attempt to salvage his reputation. One video was taken at Salt Bae’s restaurant, the caption calling Messi “the champion.” These videos, posts, and captions are doing nothing to convince people. Some of them are even reposted from 2018, a fact that was pointed out by a bunch of fans in comments sections across Salt Bae’s Instagram.
As for Lionel Messi himself, compared to 2018 he didn’t seem as willing to acknowledge Salt Bae’s most recent photo request. Messi ignored him twice before finally taking a photo with him, and I don’t doubt that it’s because Messi was well aware of the situation unfolding around him.
Absolutely Huge Consequences
It turns out that in exchange for new clout, Salt Bae just sacrificed his right to attend the US Open Cup. He can’t steal trophies from random players or pretend to sprinkle salt on them anymore.
To be fair, his whole brand is posting idiotic videos of his restaurant, or of him sprinkling salt on various objects and pieces of meat. This might have just been his biggest attempt to bring attention to his brand. Regardless of what he was trying to do, it clearly failed.
Now, not only has the man’s personal reputation been destroyed, but I’m sure that his restaurant is going to see a major drop in customers. Salt Bae overestimated his fame, and the consequences are catching up with him fast.
