- Videos of Salt Bae appearing to force himself on World Cup winners sparked social media criticism.
- Salt Bae's Instagram is full of pictures of him holding the trophy and posing with athletes.
Nusret Gökçe, the Turkish chef and influencer best known as Salt Bae, is going viral for cringeworthy clips of him at the World Cup appearing to be snubbed by Argentinian players, including Lionel Messi.
Videos of Gökçe hovering near players and touching the World Cup trophy after Argentina's victory over France sparked widespread derision on social media, with many people calling him a grifter who was trying to pose with the athletes "for clout."
—Kevin Huyghe (@JCUStreaks10) December 19, 2022
One compilation of Gökçe standing in a goalpost with winners and pretending to flick salt over the trophy — the hand gesture that made him go viral as a meme in 2017 — has amassed over 17 million views on Twitter. In one uncomfortable clip, the influencer appears to try to grab or nudge the trophy away from Argentina player Lisandro Martinez in his direction.
Another viral clip with more than 16 million views on Twitter shows Gökçe repeatedly trying to grab at Messi's arm in a packed crowd as the athlete shrugs him off, looking irritated.
—Bobby Reagan (@BarstoolReags) December 19, 2022
"Messi deserves another World Cup for not giving a single fuck about Salt Bae," the uploader of the post wrote.
Gökçe's Instagram, which has nearly 50 million followers, is crammed with photos of him from the World Cup with Argentina's players. There are also multiple pictures of him holding the golden World Cup trophy by himself, which is against FIFA regulations, as only winners are supposed to wield the award. His posts are overloaded with commenters saying they unfollowed him or deriding him for thinking he was worthy of holding the award by himself.
Many internet users shared memes about Gökçe embarrassing himself, with some comparing it to the way Lil Mama hopped on the stage during the 2009 Video Music Awards and crashed Jay Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind" performance.