Twist in huge Karen's Diner blow-up as customer responds to viral video

A fiery standoff at Karen's Diner proved to be divisive when it was shared to TikTok, however the man at the centre of the video has now tried to set the record straight.

Over the weekend, Bec Hardgrave shared a review of Karen's Diner to TikTok and it went viral.

At the end of the video, she showed footage of a man yelling at a staff member, saying the diner's own sign says there is to be no body shaming.

Ms Hardgrave said in her initial video she thought the man was "out of line". Now, she has revealed the man reached out to her in the hope of setting the record straight.

In the highly-anticipated follow-up video, after being pestered on social media for days, Ms Hardgrave said the man had told her she had it all "wrong".

"Apparently, the lady that worked at Karen's Diner, the waitress, told him he had a receding hairline," Ms Hardgrave said in the video, before showing more of the altercation.

"He then said 'you can't say that to me, that's body shaming', and then she threw a cup of water in his face."

Ms Hardgrave said she could not confirm if this actually happened, as she did not see it.

What she did see is the man's reaction to apparently having a cup of water thrown in his face.

“What’s one thing your f***ing sign says? No body shaming,” the customer is heard yelling at the staff member in the video.

He then seems to call one of the staff members a "f**king fat b**ch", while someone yells "no body shaming!" at the man.

In the extended version of the altercation, the man is seen being asked to leave.

He then takes the water bottle he was holding in his hand and pours water all along the counter. People gasp as he throws the bottle behind the counter and it appears he walks off.

Owner responds to Karen's backlash

Ms Hardgrave's initial video caused a firestorm, with others coming forward and talking about their horrific experiences at Karen's Diner.

Some think given the whole gimmick was having staff be rude to you, people should not get offended.

However, there are a fair few people who think there have been times when staff crossed the line.

"I thought the concept of Karen’s Diner was to respond how all hospitality workers wish they could NOT to outright bully customers!?" someone said in the comments.

"The place is a joke… literally," another person said.

Following the fallout from the first video, Karen's Diner's owner, Aden Levin told The Australian the man in the video had repeatedly called the waitress a "fat b**ch" before she retorted with the hairline comment.

He added that now the company was investigating whether their rules were breached, which could result in termination. Customers who breach the rules are also kicked out of the restaurant, he said.

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However, Mr Levin also noted being rude to customers was the chain's whole brand.

"I think it's affected everybody across the board within the brand when all of a sudden overnight, you've kind of been branded as the worst thing that is happening by a certain demographic on social media," he told told the publication.

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