SALT Bae shows off a table “permanently reserved” as a shrine to the late Diego Maradona in his latest desperate publicity stunt.
Cringey video resurfaced after the fame hungry chef was slammed for pestering Lionel Messi in embarrassing scenes following Argentina’s World Cup win.
The Turkish cook and Instagram star – real name Nusret Gökçe – posted a short clip of an outside table at his Dubai steakhouse.
Two seats are pulled up, but it is laid with only one plate and one set of cutlery – and a brass “reserved” sign.
Also on the table are a bunch of flowers, a lit candle and a garish painting of Salt Bae with soccer legend Maradona, who died in 2020.
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He captioned the video: “Forever reserve.”
The painting appears to be based on a photo as the Argentina icon is wearing the same outfit as when he visited the restaurant in 2018.
Salt Bae’s mawkish tribute came despite Maradona hilariously mocking the chef’s “sprinkle” gimmick to his face.
Video from the time shows the star’s reaction after being invited to mimic Gökçe’s trademark salt gesture.
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Instead he takes a pinch of salt and disdainfully dabs in the air with his fingers right under the chef’s nose.
Earlier this week Salt Bae shared an old video of him hugging Lionel Messi after being trolled over the footballer’s snub on the pitch.
Messi and his wife visited the same Dubai steakhouse in 2018.
France ace Paul Pogba was also there and the chef made sure he got in between the two footballers for a photo.
Gökçe’s throwback video shows him shaking Messi’s hand and giving him a bear hug, then talking animatedly while wagging his finger at the Barcelona forward.
His self-promoting video was captioned simply: “The champion”.
Followers said it was “cringe” and accused him of a desperate attempt to prove he is pals with Messi after getting the cold shoulder days earlier.
After the world cup final, Gökçe was filmed grabbing the Argentina captain by the shoulder at least twice.
Messi tried to shrug him off before finally agreeing to pose for an awkward picture.
The fame-hungry chef was shot down by his own fans for his desperate attempts to get close to the footballing star.
One said: “This is embarrassing.”
Another said: “He wanna prove that he wasn’t ghosted by Messi.”
As well as badgering Messi, he was filmed muscling in on the Argentina squad’s celebrations and snatching the trophy from one winner’s baby.
Gökçe also pretended to do his trademark salt-sprinkling trick over the £17million gold trophy as irritated players stood by.
And boastful pics on his Insta page showed his kissing the trophy and holding it aloft like a champion.
The disgraceful spectacle reportedly broke Fifa’s rules, which say only former winners and heads of state can handle it.
BBC host Gary Lineker shared footage of his attention-seeking antics, saying: “He’s such a pest.”
And former FA chairman Greg Dyke said: “I don’t think Fifa and Infantino have come out of this very well.”
Fifa has reportedly refused to say if Salt Bae was granted access to the pitch.
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It did not respond to The Sun Online’s request for comment.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
