King, the son of rapper T.I. is facing backlash after he made a homeless man do the “One Chip Challenge” with no water. The challenge involves eating a single chip covered in Carolina Reaper pepper sauce, which is one of the hottest peppers in the world.
King promised to give the homeless man $50 if he could endure the fiery chip for five minutes without taking a sip of water. “If you need some milk or anything else after you lose, I’ll buy it for you,” King stated.
The man persevered for four minutes, while King and his friends cheered and filmed the entire ordeal. As he fell short of the five-minute mark, he received only $20 and some alcohol.
The video of the challenge was posted to social media and quickly went viral. Many people were outraged by the video, calling it cruel and exploitative. Some people also pointed out that it was irresponsible of King to give a homeless man a chip that he knew could make him sick.
“I feel bad for T.I. cause this kid is always embarrassing him,” one person remarked. Another commented, “I just think it’s so f——d up to antagonize homeless people like WTF do you get out that you know they need money but u make them jump through hoops it’s so foul I hate this world.”
A third person wrote, “N—-s need to leave homeless people tf alone. Stop trying to use them for goofy ass content.”
Someone else added, “That’s torture cause you know he needs the money.”
This incident involving King occurred roughly a week after Paqui Snacks, the chip’s manufacturer, withdrew it from stores due to the tragic death of 14-year-old Harris Wolobah, who passed away after consuming the extremely spicy chip without food or water.
The company emphasized that their One Chip products were exclusively meant for adults and cautioned against consumption for children, pregnant women, or individuals with spicy ingredient allergies.
“We have seen an increase in teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings,” the company said on its website. “As a result, while the product continues to adhere to food safety standards, out of an abundance of caution, we are actively working with our retailers to remove the product from shelves.”
They further urged people to seek medical attention if they experienced difficulty breathing, fainting, or prolonged nausea after consuming the “extremely hot” tortilla chips.
“After touching the chip, wash your hands with soap and do not touch eyes or other sensitive areas,” the company said.
King’s actions follow closely on the heels of another rapper, Lil Reese, facing similar backlash for pouring liquid on a homeless man while he slept. In response to social media backlash, the Chicago rapper took to his Instagram stories to apologize for his inappropriate behavior, pledging to provide financial support, food, clothing, and water to the homeless community on a regular basis moving forward.
“I would like to apologize to my fans and everybody watching for recording and laughing while they were pouring water on the homeless man in the video. I do not condone or support that type of behavior in anyway. I will be giving away money to the homeless community as well as giving away food, clothes, and water twice a month going forward,” Reese typed.
