A competitive eater was refused a $100 prize after the owner accused her of being a “professional” eater trying to scam his business out of the prize.
Raina Huang, a 27-year-old competitive eater, traveled to StevO’s Pizza n Ribs in Aurora, Colorado, to take part in their OMG 28” pizza challenge. The challenge requires participants to eat an entire large pizza within an hour to win a $100 prize.
However, when Huang asked the owner, Steve Wieand, if she could film herself taking on the challenge, Wieand became infuriated. He accused Huang, who is of Asian descent, of being a “professional” eater trying to scam his business out of $100.
Footage from the restaurant shows Wieand turning Huang away and even calling her a “dirty, lying wh**e.” This verbal altercation took place because Wieand learned that Huang competed in eating contests. Although Huang has amassed 1.7 million followers on Instagram for traveling the United States to take on food challenges, she does not consider herself a professional eater.
Wieand’s restaurant does not have any official rules posted about who can and cannot participate in his business’s eating contest, and he was wrong to refuse the prize money to Huang. Huang had successfully completed the challenge, eating the entire 28-inch pizza pie in under an hour without taking a break.
In a tearful video she posted to her Instagram stories following the altercation, Huang said that she had never had such a bad restaurant experience. Huang also said she does not understand why Wieand would call her derogatory names and curse at her.
Wieand’s daughter, Stephanie, was present for the altercation and disagreed with how her father handled the situation.
“I think that it could have been handled better,” Stephanie Wieand said. “All I want to say is that I apologize to Raina and to everyone.”
Although Wieand has not apologized for his outburst, his daughter told Denver7 that “he definitely feels bad.”
WATCH the video below for more details:
Source: AWM
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