Zauria Thomas' TikTik Video Sparks Controversy With Fiore Cafe
Texas Café Owner Stops Black TikTok Influencer’s Video For Holding A Dunkin’ Cup—What Happened Next Sparked A Viral Firestorm
What started as a lighthearted outfit-of-the-day video quickly turned into controversy for TikTok creator Zauria Thomas. The Fort Worth, Texas, influencer recorded a short clip outside local coffee shop Fiore Café, sipping on a matcha drink from Dunkin’, but the seemingly harmless post soon sparked an unexpected debate online.
In the video shared on Nov. 7, Thomas was filming her OOTD when the café’s owner approached her. “You’re doing an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts outside my store?” the woman asked in the now viral clip, which has racked up more than 1.2 million views.
“Haha, no, I’m so sorry,” Thomas replies, before later telling her followers, “I’m in front of a coffee shop, how freaking awkward.” Wanting to turn the moment around, she adds, “Well I guess this turned into a vlog of me trying Fiore Café so come on in.”
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Zauria Thomas claimed she was “kicked out” for bringing her Dunkin’ drink inside Fiore Café. TikTok users thought the act was “rude.”
Thomas then headed inside, capturing shots of the café’s cozy interior and pastry display. But the friendly visit took a turn. “She kicked me out,” Thomas said later in the video. “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.”
The on-screen text read, “I was trying to record my ootd when this happened,” while her caption added, “Honestly, she ate me up. Danish was a 9/10 tho!” Viewers quickly jumped into the comments, many labeling the café owner’s reaction “weird” or “rude,” and promising to avoid the shop.
“Not she bullied you into buying something and then kicked you out,” one person wrote.
Another commenter said, “Well I definitely will NOT be going to Fiore Café. She’s so weird for that.”
A third added, “Rude and store’s empty. It adds up.”
Fiore Café released a statement about the incident.
As the online backlash intensified, Fiore Café released a statement of its own on TikTok. “We’re aware of a recent viral video that’s brought a lot of unexpected attention to our cafe,” the post began. “Unfortunately, the response online has led to 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-owned business said the clip had been “taken out of context,” explaining that employees “simply reminded the customer of our no outside food or drink policy.”
The post added, “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 reads. “We kindly ask that people remember there are real people behind small businesses.”
Zauria Thomas defended Fiore Café in a follow-up video over the Dunkin’ Donuts incident.
After seeing the café’s response, Zauria Thomas returned to TikTok on Nov. 8, to tell her side of the story. “Um, where to start?” she begins. “I think it’s important to know that I don’t take that seriously. Because if you’ve seen the video before that video, you know that I’ve been going through a tough time for these past two weeks.”
She shared that she was simply trying to lift her spirits. “I just really wanted to get cute, get me a little fun drink, record some content, because I haven’t done that in forever,” she says. “Did I think that I was going to be going viral? No, no, I didn’t.”
Thomas also clarified that she was indeed on the café’s property while filming. “I was on her property,” she says. “They had a little patio area right outside of the cafe, and I set my phone up on the table and was standing in front of it.”
She later realized she had missed part of the conversation with the owner. “I didn’t hear that until post,” she says. “I was like, oh my gosh, she did say that.”
According to Thomas, she ordered a cheese danish and chatted with the owner before being asked to leave. She explained that she hadn’t heard the comment about the café’s drink policy and, since she’s brought beverages from other local spots into cafés before, she didn’t think it would be a problem, though she did leave when asked.
“I thought she was gonna say something about me recording,” Zauria recalls. “I didn’t think that it was about the drink.” Reflecting on the incident, she said she now sees where the owner was coming from. “I didn’t know that it was a thing or not a thing,” she says. “It kind of just varies case by case, you know what I mean?”
Even so, Thomas made it clear that she doesn’t harbor resentment toward Fiore Café and urged her audience to do the same. “They did reach out to me, and they have been saying that they have been receiving death threats,” she says. “I do want to say, I don’t condone that at all.”
She later provided an exclusive statement to People, reflecting on the viral experience and calling for kindness amid the backlash.
“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 said. “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.”
She added, “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. 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.”
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