A TikToker who enraged people with videos of her rejecting food and being kicked out of restaurants

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• Winta Zesu has perfected the art of making content that enrages people.
• In one video, she complained that an egg was wrongly positioned on her plate and asked for new food.
• But Zesu told Insider it's all satire and she can't believe people think she would act that way.

Model and TikToker Winta Zesu has perfected the art of enraging the internet.

People in her comments are a mixture of horrified, bewildered, and amused by her videos pushing the boundaries of restaurant etiquette — she racked up millions of views on videos where she appears to send food back for minor reasons and even gets kicked out of places.

But if you were to think her entitled persona in the videos was impossible to believe, you'd be right. According to Zesu, the videos are set-ups and meant to be satirical.

"I was not expecting all of this to happen," she told Insider of the huge attention her posts got.

"I really didn't think people were going to think it was real."

In one recent video, which exceeded 6.1 million views and made its way to Twitter where it got double that number, Zesu complained that one of her eggs on her brunch was not placed on top of her salmon, but to the side.

"There's nothing scarier than the TikTok generation," noted the Twitter user who shared it.

"Can I please get a new one, I don't want to eat it," Zesu told the apparent waitress, who was off-screen, who then asked Zesu to leave.

"You're joking, right?" Zesu said, then showed the camera her plate. "I can't make this up. You guys see this egg that's not on here?"

Zesu then said she would leave and lifted a napkin to her eyes as if to dab away imaginary tears.

While it looked like Zesu was speaking to a waiter, she told Insider there was nobody there.

@winta_zesu i cant make this up #restaurants #brunch #nycgirl ♬ original sound - Winta

This wasn't clear to everyone who watched, though. In the comments, people expressed their shock at Zesu's behavior.

"Please tell me this isn't for real?" one person said. "Why would anyone behave like this?"

"I can't tell if this is supposed to be a joke or she is really talking to someone like that???" another person asked. 

Zesu told Insider she would "never talk to someone like that" in real life, and was playing a character.

"It was literally just me and my friend making a funny video about complaining, you know, like this stereotypical influencer thing, like a mean girl," she said. "I was looking up as if there was a waiter standing there, but there's actually no one standing there."

Zesu said she is hoping to get into acting, and this was a fun way to practice her improv skills. She never expected it to spread as far as it did.

"People on the street when I'm walking are like, oh my God, I've seen your salmon video," she said.

Zesu's TikTok page, where she has over 16o,000 followers, has videos like this scattered throughout. In one, with over a million views, Zesu said she was waiting at the door of her apartment building because she could only leave "the aesthetic way" — when there was nobody else around her. This angered her Uber driver, she said, who kept coming out to see what the hold up was.

In another, with over 13 million views, a waitress seems to asks Zesu to leave a restaurant because her manager said Zesu was "not welcome."

"If I can't come here, where am I supposed to go and eat?" Zesu asked. "Like, I'm not going to cook, so."

@winta_zesu It all works out in the end #miami #miamimansion #miamigirls #wintazesu ♬ Collide (Sped Up Remix) - Justine Skye

Zesu said she started posting videos a bit "out of the ordinary" after some strong reactions to videos she posted from red-carpet events.

"That's how my first video blew up, people were saying, 'Oh your hair is so not even done for a red carpet, why are you even there?' kind of thing," she said. "I never really even cared, so I just kept posting what I did."

Zesu soon learned the content that generates a powerful reaction, good or bad, does well.

"I was just pushing the limits of like, I can just act crazy," she said. "I'm just posting whatever people react to, I guess."

@winta_zesu pov: she thought i was gonna leave #losangeles #larestaurants #sunsetboulevard ♬ original sound - Winta

Zesu never thought she'd be a target for negativity, saying that plenty of other influencers make similar jokes. She doesn't read the comments, she said, but she does worry about the people who contact brands she has worked with.

"The hate is pretty bad right now," Zesu said. "They're commenting on Instagram saying like, don't work with this girl, all this stuff, because they think it's real."

She said it may be because she is from Ethiopia originally and didn't understand how protective American people can be about the service industry, and even pretending to be disrespectful can be triggering. 

"I guess that really does upset a lot of people and it offends a lot of people," she said. "I'll try to make my content a little less over-the-top."

Zesu's other TikToks show a different side to her, with more traditional influencer content such as outfit hauls, product reviews, and vlogs about her day.

In a video posted on Easter weekend, which amassed 2.4 million views, Zesu seems the complete opposite of a trouble-maker, and asks a waitress if she can pay for everyone's food in a restaurant she's dining in.

This side is the real her, she said.

"People that know me know I'm the nicest person ever."

@winta_zesu Happy Easter 🤍 #eastersunday #spreadkindness #resturants ♬ Flowers - Miley Cyrus Sign up for notifications from Insider! Stay up to date with what you want to know. Subscribe to push notifications

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