Attorney Waymond Wesley II, popularly known as Chef Way, announced his resignation in a statement sent to ESSENCE Tuesday.
Wesley– who had a side hustle sharing his culinary dishes on social media– served as a prosecutor for the Harris County District Attorney’s office, which covers the city of Houston. “Although the leadership at the DA’s office and I believed a path forward was possible at the outset of this situation,” he said in the statement, “it has grown clear that my presence is becoming a distraction.”
Wesley came under scrutiny for a series of racist tweets surfaced that targeted Black women. A petition circulated online calling for his firing.
In the statement, Wesley denied any connection to a tweet that said “Black B**** make good for punching bags.” According to the petition, other tweets ridiculing Black and dark skinned women included:
“real beauty vs. weave & lies.” (Real beauty shows a White – woman while weave and lies shows a Black woman)
“Shes too Black.” (captioned above a Black woman who was modeling.)
“See no difference.” (captioned above a photo of a Black woman near another photo showing a landfill of trash)
“smh the dark one messed up the photo.” (Captioned above a Black woman and a White woman modeling.)
“if black lives mattered to sandra bland she wouldn’t have taken her own life. i’m serious too.” (Tweet)
The attorney became an internet sensation for his cooking skills and racked up over 250,000 followers on TikTok. He had recently gone viral for one of his cooking posts earlier this month when the tweets were surfaced. He tweeted a response to the criticism and followed up with Tuesday’s statement.
“Seven years ago, in my early twenties, from a place of pain fueled by alcoholism, I would lash out at people on Twitter to seek attention, including Black women,” Wesley wrote. “I deeply regret and am sorry for my tweets. To be fully transparent, at the time, I was severely addicted to alcohol, underweight, sleep deprived, and in and out of rehab and sober living facilities.”