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Lifestyle

The Benny Blanco & Jollibee Controversy, Explained

Benny Blanco, music producer and Selena Gomez’s boyfriend, is currently facing backlash for a negative review of Filipino fried chicken chain Jollibee. Blanco frequently posts reviews of fast food chains on his TikTok, but people aren’t upset at the fact that he didn’t like the food, but how he conveyed his distaste. 

Did Benny Blanco like Jollibee?

Late last week, Benny Blanco reviewed Jollibee on TikTok, captioning the video, “my first time trying jollibee.” Spoiler: he didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about the fast food chain.

For those unfamiliar with Jollibee, it’s the largest fast food chain brand in the Philippines with over 1,500 stores in 17 countries — including the U.S. The chain is most known for its fried chicken, spaghetti, and pies.

In the video, Blanco mentions he’s never had Jollibee in his life, but he grew up eating Filipino food because of his stepmother. 

“Look at this dry a** adobe rice,” he said before even taking a bite of the meal. After shoving some rice into his mouth with his hands, he concluded the rice “tastes like butt.” He did, however, like the fried chicken — the Chicken Joy — and gravy combo. (He admits the gravy is doing most of the work and the “chicken is not even that good.”) But the most notable and controversial part of Blanco’s review was the Jolly Spaghetti.

Aside from noting that it smells like vomit and repeatedly saying “ew,” Blanco spat out the spaghetti, which he said ruined his night.

“Don’t go to Jollibee,” Blanco said in the video. “This sh*t sucks.” 

The music producer’s comment section is now flooded with many giving their thoughts on the video.

“The jollibee disrespect is wild,” commented one user. “I’ve never seen anyone give a bad review of jollibee in my liiiife,” wrote another.

The backlash doesn’t stop there. Many have also stitched Blanco’s TikTok with tips on how to review food that we don’t like. 

“I thought it’s 2024, and we all should know better,” Alex Mai said in a stitch TikTok video. “And we all should know it’s not okay to be eating food from a different culture and then spit it out on screen.”

What was Benny Blanco’s response video?

Four days ago, Blanco posted another TikTok video captioned, “filipino food take 2.” In it, he tried the “highest-rated Filipino places in LA” and shared that “apparently, all the Jollibees suck in LA, and they’re not as good as the Philippines and New York.”

In this video, he has a different demeanor when trying the food. His tone is softer and he actively compliments the food — one being Jollibee’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich Supreme.

“Guys I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he said. “Not only is this sandwich so good, I completely reverse my opinion of how it sucked. You could go there just for this.”

This change of heart doesn’t have viewers convinced with many expressing the damage has already been done.

“nahh..bro trying to redeem himself or just being sarcastic,” wrote one user. “Damage control,” commented another.

When it comes to food reviewing, there’s a level of mindfulness that needs to be showcased, especially for dishes we didn’t like. Aside from reviews we read online, TikTok is a platform where food reviews can mean a lot. One of the most notable food reviewers right now is Keith Lee. Lee’s reviews are full of transparency, and if he doesn’t like something he normally says, “I’m not a fan of it.”

The point here is, it’s the way you say things that matters — even more so when it comes to foods of different cultures. 

Giselle Medina is the associate editor for Spoon University where she helps oversee food coverage of news, pop culture, trends, and celebrities. In her free time, Giselle is an avid TV binge-watcher and will never say no to a Real Housewives franchise, but also makes the best chocolate chip muffins (at least that's what her inner circle says). She has a huge sweet tooth and is always on the hunt for a good chocolate chip cookie. Shoot her an email at gisellemedina@hercampus.com.