Chef Thomas Keller of French Laundry left on Twitter. On Tuesday, after tweeting praise for the recently deceased Sheldon G. Adelson, one of President Donald Trump’s biggest donors who was also a patron of Keller’s restaurants, he immediately saw setbacks.
Some called Keller tone deaf due to the recent storm of the Capitol by Trump supporters, or disappointment expressed about him making money from “evil people. “As of last night, people have noticed that Keller had it deleted his Twitter account (The San Francisco Chronicle published the news).
But this incident is far from Keller’s first issue with controversy in recent months. After being nominated to the White House’s Economic Council for Restaurants with Wolfgang Puck, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Boulud in April, Keller tweeted: “Honored @realdonaldtrump wrote me & @danielboulud @wolfgangpuck @jeangeorges to join @ Whitehouse Great American Economic Revival Industry Group. Proud to work together on a strategy where the safety of Americans is paramount in the context of economic recovery. “
Keller also thanked Trump directly in another tweet for a related issue, a few days earlier. Online, some people were unhappy to see a direct mention of Trump from Keller, and were also disappointed when they saw the composition of the Council for Restaurants to be men, mostly white and made up of representatives of corporations like Chick- fil-A. and Pepsi, rather than small businesses.
“I’m still trying to understand how these chefs represent a true cross-section of restaurant owners?” answer one individual. “Oh, wait, they do not. Who in that room is going to speak for workers? I feel like we all put too much trust in this ‘relief’ when we are not even through the storm yet.”
With criticism of his new concert accumulating, Keller doubles.
“It’s not a biased issue; millions are struggling to put a meal on their table. I stand proudly with some of today’s great thinkers; Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Ajay Banga, Condoleezza Rice, Adam Silver “Ann Mukherjee, Barbara Grimm, and many others,” he tweeted in a thread. Another tweet said: “I call on all haters and cynics to stop and take meaningful action. Shout less, act more. “
And while Keller himself was not at the center of the heat that Gavin Newsom’s government and the mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, ate for the French laundromat during the pandemic, it certainly did not help the reputation of his restaurant. The French laundry also received more than $ 2.4 million in PPP loans during the pandemic, while smaller restaurants struggled to get any approval from the federal program, which was obviously not good with many people. .
Tuesday’s Twitter controversy may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but leaving Twitter looks like it was a long time for Keller. However, the chef’s Instagram account remains active.