As with any industry, the influencer business can be cutthroat and petty. Condiment content creation is no different.
The debate over who was the first Mustard Lady of TikTok is the latest strangely mesmerizing feud.
Unless you are one of the thousands caught up in the drama over who is the rightful monarch of mustard, at this point you’re probably wondering what makes someone the queen of a condiment. And why anyone cares.
As with any online subculture, people who follow influencers in the food/wellness community can be fiercely loyal and extremely territorial. The simple matter of who started a trend can launch a war of thousands of comments.
The question of which woman first made their mark by slathering food with mustard and filming themselves eating it has been simmering for a while. It burst into the open earlier this month when one of the prospective Mustard Queens addressed the issue.
On June 11, Tiffany Magee (@tiffanyymcgee) responded to a comment asking why she copies the “real mustard lady.”
Magee, whose weight loss journey was recently documented by the Daily Mail, demonstrated admirable commitment to staying on brand by dipping a chunk of broccoli into cottage cheese and mustard and taking a big bite as she responded.
“The thing about that is that I don’t know which mustard lady you’re talking about,” she said saucily. “Because there’s like 50 of them on this app.”
@tiffanyymagee Replying to @Tabitha C’mon TABITHUUUH #mustardallday #mustardallnight #mustard4life ♬ original sound – TiffanyElizabeth | Weight Loss
She has a point. #MustardQueen has over 8 million views on TikTok; #MustardLady has over 20 million. It’s great content if you like watching women chug mustard, blaspheme ketchup, and eat mustard on all kinds of foods. A popular trend Magee started consists of dipping a sausage or carrot in mustard and cottage cheese then eating it on camera. One can only imagine what the audience gets out of watching mostly women take big bites of long cylindrical foods slathered with yellow and white condiments.
The internet being the internet, the fact that Magee is right about the plethora of mustard ladies didn’t stop people from crowning their favorite Mustard Queen in the comments.
Magee’s fans obligingly took her side. One said she’s been dipping food into the low- or no-calorie condiment since 2018.
Another loyal follower wrote, “You’re my mustard lady. I simply have seen no one else do what you do.”
Some people, including Magee, acknowledged the absurdity of the debate.
Magee didn’t immediately respond to an emailed inquiry sent Thursday afternoon.
Others chose to coronate their own Mustard Queens. Many of these claimed that influencers Hailey Peters (@happyhealthyhailey) and Auntie Lisa (@absolutely.lisa) were actually the first to wear the condiment crown.
Magee also posted a follow-up video in which she declared, “I am the original Mustard Queen!”
As Magee’s TikTok gained traction—it has nearly 5 million views—another prospective ruler, Auntie Lisa, responded to the controversy.
“We need to talk about the videos I’m being tagged in,” she said while assembling a chicken burger. “Apparently there’s a lot of people who eat mustard, and there’s like a competition on who’s the Mustard Queen.”
@absolutely.lisa Mustard lovers unite! #mustardqueen #mustardyellow #chickensausage #lunchbreakatwork ♬ original sound – auntielisa
After grabbing a bottle of (what else?) mustard, Auntie Lisa abdicated the throne.
“I am definitely not the Mustard Queen,” she said, laughing.
Auntie Lisa expressed sympathy for Magee, whom she called the “poor girl” who constantly eats raw vegetables dipped in mustard while fielding a barrage of angry comments from people insisting that she is a pretender to the crown.
In Auntie Lisa’s view, there’s room for all on the Mustard Throne.
“I’m just like mustard for all. Mustard for all!” she cried, brandishing her bottle of mustard like a scepter. She urged those who would declare another a false mustard idol to “be nice” and stop gatekeeping the throne. “We can all love it at the same time and we can all eat it all the time.”
Auntie Lisa didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
It is for each person to decide who the original Mustard Queen is. But before you take a bite, heed this warning from one of Magee’s followers: “I did one mustard video and I was copying someone apparently. I stay away from mustard when it comes to TikTok.”
If you do decide to wade into Mustard Queen TikTok, be aware that the knives will come out. And they’ll be dripping yellow, as the battle rages on.
