Food influencers suing over lobster meal reveal frightening online threats

The influencers who were accused of faking gastro to get out of paying for a lobster meal have revealed the backlash they received.

A family of food influencers who are suing a Chinese restaurant in Cabramatta over a social media post accusing them of not paying for a $364 lobster dinner bill, have shared the frightening messages they received from trolls.

The defamation case against western Sydney seafood restaurant Silver Pearl remains before the Federal Court almost three years after the fateful meal took place on Christmas Day in 2020.

Jennifer Do and her daughters Belinda and Julie Nguyen claim they faced serious consequences after the restaurant shared a post to its Instagram with a photo of their family captioned: “Beware fraudulent diners”.

Nguyen girls speak out about lobster meal. Picture: Instagram

Nguyen girls speak out about lobster meal. Picture: Instagram

The women claim they were forced to delete their social media account, which had amassed 76,000 followers, after receiving threats from online trolls who were not involved in the case.

Speaking with KIISfm radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O on Wednesday morning, Belinda said: “There was just so many threats going on and at the time I was really depressed”.

She said they had to report the threats to police after someone threatened to expose their home address online.

“Police had to intervene because of the ongoing threats,” Belinda said.

“They wanted to release our home address as well.

The defamation lawsuit centres on social media posts by Cabramatta restaurant Silver Pearl which claimed the social media influencers tried to avoid paying for their meals by claiming they suffered from food poisoning. Picture: Instagram

Silver Pearl’s social media picture of the blogger and friends allegedly hours after the poisoning claim at another restaurant. Picture: Instagram

They said they are still traumatised by the onslaught of messages they received, from people not involved in the case, with strangers sending direct messages calling them “scammers” and “sex workers”.

The $364 lobster meal that started it all

The family ordered a bottle of red wine and one live lobster when they sat down for dinner at Silver Pearl restaurant in Cabramatta on Christmas Day in 2020.

The women claim that when the dish arrived at the table, one member of the party said it smelt funny and questioned whether it had been frozen, rather than the fresh lobster they had ordered.

CCTV captures the lobster feast on Christmas Day in 2020. Picture: Instagram

When the $364 bill was delivered, they allegedly told the restaurant they had developed food poisoning symptoms and refused to pay.

However, the restaurant claimed the family had shared photos of themselves eating a second lobster at a different restaurant later that day.

Outraged by the revelation, the restaurant shared images of the family to their social media with the caption: “Beware fraudulent diners”, followed by details of the second lobster dinner.

“How could anyone eat more of what made them ‘feel sick’ let alone another meal?,” a Silver Pearl staff member wrote to Facebook.

Three years later, the Nguyen sisters and their mother are pursuing the restaurant for damages in court.

They claim that contrary to the restaurant’s allegations they never finished eating the lobster meal and they paid for the bottle of the wine that was drunk.

Originally published as Food influencers suing over lobster meal reveal frightening online threats