Influencer's Account Banned After He Throws Tantrum on Live Video When Asked to Pay for Food

A YouTuber and influencer found his account deleted after he threw a tantrum on a livestream when a restaurant refused to give him free food and he threatened to send them a bill for the "promotion."

The incident happened last week when YouTuber and influencer Borja Escalona, whose account had about 35,000 followers, stopped in at A Tapa do Barril in Vigo, Spain, during a livestream on which he bragged about his ability to get free food due to his followers. 

https://twitter.com/DoaTecla5/status/1558520989574725632

After eating an empanadilla while live, Escalona prepares to leave, at which point, an employee informs he needs to pay for the food, which costs a little over $2. Escalona, clearly affronted, responds that if he is required to pay for the food that he will have to charge the restaurant for the "promotion" for having appeared on his livestream, to which the employee responds that he can take the issue to her boss. The employee had told him initially that he would not be given free food after he had said he "only eats free things" just a moment before beginning to eat the empanadilla. 

Escalona did eventually pay, but then told the employee that his company would be sending an invoice for 2,500 Euros (about $2,550) for the "promotion." The employee, who became distraught at the thought of losing her job over the incident, said she felt threatened by Escalona, who was also arrested last year after he threw an electric razor at a woman, hitting her in the face.

YouTube confirmed to Gizmodo that it then banned Escalona's entire account. He had been previously banned from the platform in February of 2021, and YouTube's terms of service do not allow ban evasions, which was the basis of this new ban, though the incident likely brought attention to Escalona's new account. 

In the meantime, the restaurant reiterated that it had never negotiated any sort of promotion with Escalona and that it had received significant backlash from his followers as a result of the incident. Admirably, the restaurant stood by the employee involved in the incident. In the meantime, before he was banned from YouTube again, Escalona posted a video apology, saying he had been bullied after the incident and that he was afraid for his and his wife's safety. 

Thankfully, it seems the restaurant and employee have received a wave of support after the incident and will not be majorly affected by the backlash from Escalona's now former followers.