A harmless OOTD (outfit-of-the-day) video, posted by TikTok creator Zauria Thomas (@zzzauria) in Fort Worth, has become the center of controversy. The video, which featured an impromptu confrontation, has now resulted in some heat directed at a local business.
It all began while Thomas was filming and drinking a Dunkin‘ beverage, prompting the owner of a nearby coffee shop to come outside.
The video, which has since gone viral, captured the owner of the cafe asking, “You’re doing an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts outside my store?”
“Haha, no, I’m so sorry,” Thomas replied, before later telling her followers, “I’m in front of a coffee shop, how freaking awkward.” She added that she decided to go inside afterward, saying, “Well I guess this turned into a vlog of me trying Fiore Cafe so come on in.”
The situation escalated inside the café when the owner “kicked me out,” according to Thomas. “She said, ‘We don’t do outside drinks in here.’ You’re so right but I got me a cheese danish, so I got it, let’s try it. Let’s rate it 1-10,” Thomas said in the video.
The text overlay on her video read, “I was trying to record my ootd when this happened,” and her caption added, “Honestly, she ate me up. Danish was a 9/10 tho!”
A lot of people quickly took Thomas’ side, saying the café owner was acting “weird” and declared they wouldn’t go there.
Fiore Cafe has since addressed the significant online fallout after the viral video. On its official TikTok account, the cafe acknowledged the “unexpected attention” the video brought, but lamented that the online reaction has generated “a wave of false reviews, hurtful comments, and even threats directed at our team.”
The café continued, “We are truly sorry if our tone or words came across differently than intended, as that was never our goal. We’d never want anyone to feel unwelcome here.” The family-run shop said the video was “taken out of context,” explaining that staff “simply reminded the customer of our no outside food or drink policy.”
“We are saddened that less than 10 seconds of video can cause such strong hateful opinions, when we know who we are as a business,” the statement read. “We kindly ask that people remember there are real people behind small businesses.”
Addressing the situation, TikTok creator Thomas explained her perspective after her post went viral. She emphasized that she isn’t taking the incident too seriously, particularly given a difficult few weeks she had experienced prior.
Thomas clarified that her intention was simply to “get cute,” enjoy a drink, and film some uplifting content, as she hadn’t done so in a while. She stated that she had no expectation of the video going viral.
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She admitted that she was on the café’s property when filming, using a patio area outside the cafe where she set up her phone on a table. Regarding the café owner’s comment about finishing her drink, Thomas mentioned she didn’t hear it until after the fact, realizing later, “oh my gosh, she did say that.”
Thomas recounted that after entering the café, she ordered a cheese danish and briefly spoke with the owner before being asked to leave. She initially thought the owner’s concern was about her recording, saying, “I didn’t think that it was about the drink.”
Reflecting on the situation, she now expresses understanding of the owner’s reaction, noting, “I didn’t know that it was a thing or not a thing… It kind of just varies case by case, you know what I mean?”
Despite the encounter, she maintains she holds no ill will toward the business. She has publicly urged her followers to stop harassing the café, as the owners reached out to her, reporting they “have been receiving death threats.” Thomas emphasized, “I do want to say, I don’t condone that at all.”
In the end, Thomas told People, “Accountability is a word that most people know, but don’t know how to use. Without accountability, there is no room for understanding and growth. During these hard times we have to show grace and look through the world through a love lens. I truly wish the best to the café despite this unfortunate outcome.”
After the incident went viral and triggered public criticism, Thomas gave an exclusive statement to People, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the positive aspect of the situation.
“I am still in shock with all of this! I am very blessed and I will always start first with thanking God for even putting me where I am,” she told People. “I had been having a tough time, and decided to get out the house to feel better. I never could have imagined I’d be here.”
“I want to make this clear that I support local businesses, and me recording a video with a big corporation’s product in front of their café was at the least tone deaf,” she continued. “I saw a beautiful landscape and thought it would make a nice background for my video. For that I will take accountability and I have apologized.”
“It is unfortunate that at a time where I am being shown support that it is hurting a business,” she added. “I posted the video to originally show support, show my outfit, and talk about an awkward interaction that ended in a delish danish. I appreciate all of the love and support I have been receiving! I am grateful for the people that have been defending me! I would like to ask that we continue to move with positivity and grace.”
