Salt Bae responds to 'embarrassing' footage of him outside Champions League Final party

If you want to feel old, it's been over eight years since Salt Bae first went viral with his video sprinkling salt on a steak.

Yeah it looked delicious, yes it was a funny meme at the time, but it's time that both the public and the man himself moved on.

We've seen some big celebrity names dine at Salt Bae's restaurant and chocked up some pretty huge bills, but the biggest shock might not be the price of his food but his voice, which many of us will never have heard.

While his road to success might have been an inspiring one, the Turkish chef and internet personality was forced to defend himself after footage emerged from Saturday's Champions League final.

Most of us enjoyed watching a near-perfect performance from PSG as they won the trophy for the first time, after a 5-0 triumph over Inter Milan, but any celebrations from Salt Bae were muted at full-time, after footage emerged showing him appearing to be pushed away from a party by a doorman, which presumably left him saltier than ever.

Videos of the 41-year-old allegedly being pushed away from the venue have circulated online, with one dubbing the chef 'an embarrassment to himself'.

Now, the star has hit back at speculation he was 'kicked out' of a Champions League party.

He wrote on Instagram in a translated statement: "After the Champions League final match, we arrived to the hotel in UEFA bus, the reason we were there at that moment was because of our thousands of fans who wanted to see us there.

"As always, I was in that area to return their love and to take photos. Due to the busyness that occurred, while I was waiting for my vehicle to go to my own hotel, my back turned in front of the door, there was a directive from Mr. Dormen."

Calling claims he was kicked out of the venue 'baseless', he confusingly went on: "Don't worry about such little things, the rest is artificial intelligence."

It's not the first time Salt Bae has faced criticism following the football.

For those of you who can remember as far back as December 2022, when Argentina triumphed over France in the World Cup final, you might remember Salt Bae joining in with the South American's celebrations at full-time and bafflingly performing his signature sprinkle on the trophy, while also grabbing a less-than-impressed Lionel Messi for a photograph.

Well, this landed him in some hot water, with FIFA later commenting: "Following a review, FIFA has been establishing how individuals gained undue access to the pitch after the closing ceremony at Lusail stadium on 18 December. The appropriate internal action will be taken."

LADbible has contacted Salt Bae's reps for comment.