PHOENIX — Glamorama, a TikTok food influencer, has apologized after her online back and forth with a Phoenix bakery went viral last week.
Aurora Griffo, better known as glamorama on TikTok, posted a since-deleted video on Oct. 7 criticizing JL Patisserie’s location near 24th Street and University Drive.
“I do not mind spending $10 on a pastry if they are really good, but you cannot use fake-ass ingredients,” Griffo said in her review posted to her TikTok account. “That pistachio color is about as natural as my boobs, ass and waistline.”
She also described the upscale French bakery chain’s coffee as “super sour and acidic” and went on to slam the quiche’s “paper-thin” crust.
In response video, JL Patisserie says Glamorama tried to “blackmail” bakery
The bakery, owned by French-trained Jenna Leurquin, posted a response on TikTok on Oct. 9 and said Griffo initially reached out to the bakery via a direct message wanting to do a collaboration; however, it was not within the Valley chain’s budget.
I will forever dedicate my time and energy to continue to make it right to the people who value my teams hard work and have respected us and supported us since day one. #review #influencer #bakery
“So, we recently had an influencer reach out to us and asked to do a collaboration, and we respectfully declined, because it was not in our budget right now,” Leurquin said in the video. “Then, she essentially tried to blackmail us by saying if we offered the food for free, she would then write a good review about us.”
In the response video, Leurquin shared screenshots of Griffo’s direct message to JL Patisserie.
“When it’s a collab I will still do the honest review and highlight/focus on what I enjoyed and be softer/quicker on my words with what I may not like as much,” the screenshot read. “If the experience is terrible I won’t post anything for the kindness of the hospitality. The meal will need to be comped including the gratuity.”
Leurquin said she would think about the proposal, but Griffo still showed up to the bakery the next day, unannounced.
The JL Patisserie staff recognized Griffo when she came in and were “very accommodating” and offered her extra drinks, according to Leurquin.
“So we totally respect a bad review, but what we don’t like is lying and bullying,” Leurquin said in her response video. “The first thing she said was that our pistachio was so fake. Fun fact, we have right here our pistachio paste that is 100% pistachios from Italy. All of our flours that we use in our product the Farine de Blé, Épeautre, Gruau Rouge all comes on a palette from Europe. Also, this is our Panettone flour, straight from Italy. It’s written entirely in Italian, not bad for a ‘close to the airport’ bakery. The only fact that we spend 10 times the amount of money to buy the ingredients.”
Leurquin said she likes working with influencers, but influencers acting like the working class is beneath them and bribing them for free food is not something she supports.
“This isn’t just about me. This specific influencer has gone to many different local restaurants and bullied them,” Leurquin said. “The problem is if the next generation is influenced by her to believe it’s OK to bully and disrespect the food industry.”
Glamorama claps back before eventually apologizing in response video
In a since-deleted video Griffo posted on Oct. 10, the TikTok food influencer said it was a “bit of a stretch” that she was bullying the bakery since the bakery has “way more followers,” and that she never said she would leave a good review for a free meal.
“Goddamn, someone finally stood up to me. I’ve got to say, f—ing kuddos, for real. I respect that,” Griffo said in the video. “What I don’t respect are the lies.”
Griffo shared an Instagram direct message between her and JL Patisserie and told the bakery in the direct message she does “honest reviews” and does not charge for her content.
However, it was the same direct message that Leurquin had shared in her video.
Griffo later deleted all of her videos on Oct. 12, changed her TikTok username and posted an apology, where she turned off the comments.
“When I tasted the pistachio pastry, I noticed a strong pistachio flavor that reminded me of extract or flavoring, so I assumed that’s what was used to enhance the taste. Maybe it was added, maybe it wasn’t. But I want to be clear they do use real ingredients as well, and I should have been more thoughtful with my wording,” Griffo said in the apology posted to TikTok.
She also said her review was not “revenge” for being turned down for the collaboration and that she’d always planned to review the bakery.
“But I understand with how things unfolded, it might have looked like I did it out of spite. That’s not who l am, and that was never my intention,” Griffo said in the apology.
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