A boycott campaign targeting a New York City–based celebrity chef has gained visibility online as vegan influencers urge diners to avoid his eateries, linking the push to the Israel-Hamas war. Guy Vaknin, an Israeli-born chef who competed on Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen and later appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, says he has become the target of what he describes as a sustained hate campaign that has damaged his business and endangered his family. Vaknin, 42, immigrated to the United States 21 years ago after serving in the Israel Defense Forces. He now runs seven vegan restaurants under his City Roots Hospitality brand, including Reverie and Le Basque.
The campaign’s spark, Vaknin says, came after a Sept. 4 Instagram post by Vegans for Palestine calling out his service in the IDF and urging a boycott of his restaurants. He said the online harassment intensified in the weeks that followed, with a daily barrage of messages slamming him for not condemning Israel amid the war with Hamas and sometimes including threats directed at his children. One message, according to a screenshot provided by Vaknin, read: “Beautiful child. Did you feel bad when you went to kill the Palestine children? Hope your child doesn’t die like the children you killed in Palestine.” The messages were not limited to social-media comments; vandalism appeared at his businesses, including the word “Free Gaza” scrawled across the bathroom of his Midtown Manhattan location, Beyond Sushi.
Vaknin said the hostility spiraled after Vegans for Palestine posted a message calling for a boycott and arguing that dining at his restaurants “normalizes (and contributes to) israel’s oppression of Palestinians.” The group wrote that the boycott would expose what it described as “the #VeganWashing of Israeli crimes.” The chef said the attacks have also affected more than 200 employees across his seven restaurants, complicating operational discipline and morale. In a statement this week, he condemned the attacks as hateful online rhetoric while noting that his political views have never been publicly expressed by him and that targeting his family and livelihood over assumptions is unfair and destructive.
In response to Vaknin’s public statement, Vegans for Palestine and Sabrina Dahlmann, a vegan influencer who posts as @Sabring.the.vegan, pushed back. The group said Vaknin’s defense of peace measures amounted to “both-siding the suffering” and claimed multiple people who worked with him had spoken up against him. Dahlmann amplified calls to boycott the restaurants and, according to Vaknin, posted that she no longer supported him and had heard from others that he had used Arab slurs. Vaknin flatly denied using slurs. He said that in private he had shared videos from friends near the Gaza border with Dahlmann to illustrate the toll of the conflict, explaining that his messages were sent in a moment of grief and that he intended no harm. “I out of grief responded in a way — I sent to her, ‘Hey look at this, this is what is happening.’ They were still figuring out body parts of my friends that were killed,” Vaknin recalled. He said their private exchange briefly cooled before Dahlmann’s public post escalated the situation, and that the online mob soon surged again.
Dahlmann and Vegans for Palestine did not respond to requests for comment, and Vaknin said the attention has forced him to address the situation publicly for the first time in this way. The group has defended its stance, arguing that it is advocating on behalf of Palestinians and urging accountability for what it sees as “Israeli crimes.” The dispute comes amid ongoing, broader debates over politics, social-media activism and the lines between advocacy and harassment in the digital age.
Vaknin’s personal and professional history provides broader context. He is a former IDF service member who built a culinary footprint in the United States, then expanded into vegan dining with a network of restaurants that aim to combine plant-based menus with hospitality. His company, City Roots Hospitality, has grown to seven locations, including Reverie and Le Basque, and the disputes have cast a shadow over an industry already pressed by labor concerns and rising costs. Vaknin said the business impact is ongoing, with customer perception and employee retention affected by the online campaign even as he maintains that his teams are focused on providing safe, inclusive service.
The timeline of events—ranging from Sept. 4, 2024, posts calling for a boycott to subsequent messages and vandalism—reflects a volatile moment at the intersection of activist online culture and the real-world consequences of public stances on international conflicts. Vaknin said he has taken steps to protect his staff and his families, including moderating communications and continuing to handle business operations, while urging a more constructive discourse around the issues at hand. He added that he remains open to dialogue but will not tolerate threats or personal attacks against his family.
The dispute also highlights how influencers and activist groups can shape consumer behavior and reputations quickly in the digital era, especially when geopolitical violence is involved. For Vaknin, the episodes have underscored how a chef’s public profile can become entangled in a larger political theater, with personal safety and livelihoods at stake. The ongoing conversations around his restaurants, the boycott campaign, and the reactions from Vegans for Palestine and its supporters will likely continue to unfold in the weeks ahead as both sides present their narratives and seek to mobilize followers.
