Keith Lee-Reviewed Food Truck Owner Attempted Suicide After Reconciliation With Influencer Was A Scam

A woman whose food truck was reviewed by TikTok star Keith Lee allegedly attempted to kill herself months after her $4,000 tip drama with the food critic, her son has claimed.

In a recent TikTok video, Deon Spelling claimed his mother, chef Kim Viverette, nearly took her own life after she was allegedly scammed by an individual posing as Lee.

Back in January, Lee -- who has 16.4 million followers on TikTok and whose food review videos are known to lead to a significant increase in customers for restaurants -- visited Viverette's Dallas food truck Sweetly Seasoned and left a $4,000 tip that he instructed would be divided between her, an on-site braider and a barber.

However, instead of enjoying the "Keith Lee Effect," Viverette faced widespread criticism after the barber's sister accused her of keeping all $4,000 to herself and continuing to charge customers even though Lee had left $863 so other patrons could get free meals on the day of his visit.

The debacle ended with Viverette apologizing for the "miscommunication" and handing over the money owed to the barber and braider.

However, six months later, Viverette's son claimed that his mother continues to get "death threats" and suffer from "harassment."

According to Spelling, Viverette reached out to Lee to give him an update on what's happened since his visit.

The chef then allegedly received a message she believed was from the influencer's team offering to visit her again and "come up with a resolution."

Spelling claimed that the person posing as Lee assured his mother that he will make an appearance at her food truck's reopening event and only asked Viverette to pay a $300 deposit for a barber.

Hoping to salvage her business and stop the alleged harassment, Viverette allegedly quickly agreed.

In exchange, the alleged scammer claimed Lee would "pay for food for three hours for everybody in the community."

On the day of the event, Spelling said he and his mother gave free food to everyone who came, but neither Lee nor the barber showed up.

"It was all a scam," Spelling said. "She lost thousands of dollars. She had to pay for the lot where she was at. She lost all the food she gave away."

Spelling said his mother initially "didn't seem too sad" despite allegedly being scammed, but he claimed he "woke up to all these calls" the day after the event.

"I'm not ready to lose my mom. I just lost my grandparents, lost my little brother, I lost my dad. I only got a lot of people left. I cannot lose my mom!" he said before pleading, "Leave my mom alone."

"She literally can not take no more. She can't!" he continued. "Leave my mother alone. Please!"

Spelling's video, however, received mixed reactions from TikTok users.

While many expressed sympathy and sent their prayers to Viverette, some seemed skeptical of Spelling's story and accused him of lying.

Fans of Lee also pointed out that the TikTok star has never charged restaurants he's visited.

It is unclear if Lee has publicly responded to Spelling's claims.

If you or someone you know is struggling or has had suicidal thoughts, confidential help is available for free at the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. The line is available 24 hours, every day.

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Influencer