Keith Lee's The Real Milk and Honey Review Controversy

About

Keith Lee's The Real Milk and Honey Review Controversy refers to a food review posted by TikTok food critic Keith Lee in October 2023 in which he gave a poor review for the Atlanta, Georgia restaurant The Real Milk and Honey because they initially refused service to him and his family before realizing that he was an influencer. His review video racked up over 15 million plays in a short timeframe, resulting in a response from The Real Milk and Honey on TikTok in which they asked "Who's Keith Lee?" to discredit his influence. Much of the discourse and backlash was related to the "rules" that are purportedly common among Atlanta restaurants.

Background

On October 27th, 2023, TikToker^[1] @keith_lee125 posted a food review for the Atlanta, Georgia restaurant The Real Milk and Honey, which received over 15.9 million plays and 1.8 million likes in three days (shown below). In the video, Lee explained that the restaurant had "unique rules" about ordering takeout food and the employees refused them service because of the rules. Lee then stated that he walked into the restaurant after his family tried and the employees recognized him. However, he refused to order because they hadn't served his family beforehand. In turn, Lee asked his viewers not to "tear down" the business on social media.

Online Reactions

Many reactions started to surface online about Lee's review of The Real Milk and Honey. Initial reactions were posted by Atlanta residents, such as TikToker^[2] @nosybystanders on October 29th, 2023, who discussed in her video the rulesets of specifically Atlanta restaurants, ultimately criticizing the system. Her video received roughly 1.7 million plays and 511,900 likes in one day (shown below).

During the same timeframe, many reactions surfaced on Twitter / X that centered on Lee's review of The Real Milk and Honey, as well as on all his reviews of the restaurants in Atlanta. For instance, on October 28th, 2023, X^[3] user @Dvrryl2times tweeted a meme about the restaurant staff realizing that Lee was reviewing in his car, gaining roughly 39,000 likes in two days (shown below, left).

Also on October 28th, X^[4] user @KPCeeJ compared Lee to the health inspector from SpongeBob, gaining roughly 50,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Developments

The Real Milk and Honey's Response

On October 29th, 2023, The Real Milk and Honey posted a video (since deleted) to its TikTok page @therealmilkandhoney. In the video, people are seen sitting on a couch and when the man is told that Lee had reviewed the restaurant, he asks, "Who's Keith Lee?" The video was later deleted by the account. However, a viral repost of the video was posted by TikToker^[5] @soulthagenshinstan on October 29th, gaining roughly 1.6 million plays and 31,200 likes in a day (shown below).

Online Reactions

Reactions to the restaurant's response video sparked backlash and discourse on TikTok and Twitter / X. For instance, on October 29th, 2023, X^[6] user @mr_blah_blah_ reposted the restaurant's TikTok with the caption, "Oh brother alert. The place sucks lmao. Take the criticism!" gaining roughly 9,900 likes in a day (shown below).

Also on October 29th, TikToker^[7] @noahglenncarter posted a video that covered the response video, including screenshots of top comments left on the original video from The Real Milk and Honey. Many of the top comments that he showed were negative. His video received roughly 1.7 million plays and 201,500 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Reactions

Search Interest

External References