A balsamic-drizzled controversy involving neighbors, a July 4th party and an antipasto salad has spread from the block to the world, thanks to TikTok.
On July 4, Nicole (@folkmedicineremedies on TikTok) retold her experience attending — or at least, trying to attend — an Independence Day party she was invited to by the mom of her son’s best friend, Samantha, hosted by her extended family.
“I don’t normally post things like this, but I am absolutely humiliated,” Nicole says through tears at the start of the video.
“I’m new to this area, I just moved 1,000 miles away to be here,” Nicole says. “And so I made an antipasto salad, like this big, gorgeous salad.”
She shows the salad she made: Slices of salami, tomato, mozzarella, basil, oregano and pepperoncini are carefully arranged in a sheet pan.
Nicole says that when she walked into the party — hosted by a local couple, Stasia and Jake Hicks — she was immediately greeted with hostility from Jake.
Less than five minutes later, she says, another woman walked into the house and confronted her, saying, ‘It’s really rude to walk into somebody’s house and not introduce yourself. He’s absolutely flipping out outside about some stranger.’”
“And I was, like, so confused. I look like a deer caught in headlights because I thought I was invited,” she says, adding that Samantha was also befuddled at the situation.
“I was like, I’m really sorry. I don’t even know whose house this is,” Nicole says, “And the girl goes, ‘Exactly, you shouldn’t be in here.’ And I was like, ‘OK,’ so I walk outside.’”
Nicole claims that some partygoers wouldn’t even look at her, and others were “angrily looking” at her in a “nasty” way.
“I was totally distraught,” she says before revealing the saddest part of the whole saga — she left the salad behind.
“Like, I’ve never been treated like that,” she says, “It was like, probably a $40 salad. I used all the really nice salami and cut meats and all the vegetables from my yard. I just wanted to make a good impression.”
She ends the video on a pessimistic note: “This is why you don’t make friends in your 30s.”
TikTok unites in support of Nicole
In response, Nicole received an outpouring of support: The video garnered more than 33 million views and 100,000 comments, largely supportive.
“FIRST THAT SALAD WAS GORGEOUS?!?” wrote one TikTok user. “And how are they gonna ignore you and gonna be like ‘are you gonna introduce yourself’ when you literally just introduced yourself.”
“A good party is prepared for extras. They don’t know how to host,” added another.
“They did not deserve you or your antipasto!” commented one more. “Their behavior was bizarre. I guarantee there was something else going on.”
Because the internet loves fresh drama and mozzarella, TikTok has been flooded with Antipasto-gate recaps and reactions from people living on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.
“I have never seen TikTok this united over anything,” said one TikToker in her recap.
“You bring me an antipasto salad, I’m not kicking you out, I’m not just letting you in, I’ma kiss you on the lips,” says influencer William Spreck in his reaction video.
“Nicole is the heroine of the story,” says one TikToker, who used a dry erase board to chart out the drama for those out of the loop.
The Hicks respond to the backlash
And then the aforementioned Stasia took to TikTok to share her side of the story.
“We are not mean people,” she says in a now-deleted video. “Let’s clarify. This was not a party. This was a get together of people who knew each other, OK? And just because we didn’t know her doesn’t mean that she couldn’t have stayed and hung out. We just didn’t want her in our house, OK?”
OK!
Stasia says her husband Jake, mother-in-law and she are getting mean messages on social media but they “don’t care.” She deleted the video after backlash, but, because the internet is forever, it was saved by other TikTokers.
She also says Jake called Nicole directly to offer an apology, but it wasn’t accepted.
In a follow-up video thanking people for their support, Nicole shares a text exchange with Samantha, the mom who invited her, in which she apologized for her family’s behavior. She also said she told Stasia and Jake she invited Nicole — and texted them a photo of the antipasto salad.
Nicole also posted the recording of her phone call with Jake. He starts out by saying he didn’t know who she was or that she was coming. Eventually, he admits he knew about her all along, but only expected her son to come.
Stasia reportedly posted footage of the event recorded by a Ring camera, but promptly deleted it after more backlash.
Jake’s mother also posted a defensive TikTok, noting in her video that the event “was not a party” but a “cookout for the neighbors,” and Nicole must have been “misinformed.” She has since made her TikTok account private.
Nicole shares her antipasto salad recipe
Nicole has continued to share updates on her account — including a highly requested tutorial for the antipasto salad.
She thoughtfully layers cured meats, sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella and basil leaves, adds pickled garlic scapes and peppers and onions from her garden, sprinkles some black pepper and drizzles olive oil and “a liberal amount” of balsamic glaze for a “sweet bite.”
“I gotta admit I’m kind of shocked that people really wanted the recipe for this,” she says in the video. “But it’s really simple, and I really hope you guys try it and enjoy it.”
Then she adds, “It’s something you can bring to any gathering.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
