LA Chef Says She Lost Everything in Business Deal | TSR Investigates

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]I do not need people to do wrong to me.

[00:00:02]I don't do wrong to nobody.

[00:00:03]>> Chef Marilyn Cole locked out and on the verge of tears outside of a restaurant she's owned for 38 years. She's known in Krenshaw for selling those 99 cent platters back in the day.

[00:00:14]>> And everything in here is mine. I own the stove. I own the refrigerator. I own everything. I built this place and they came in and they're taking everything from me.

[00:00:23]>> It's a clip that's now been seen around the world.

[00:00:26]>> I've just been scammed. She told me that last year was really tough for her business. Rising food costs and a flood almost took her out. Then she got audited by the state. Tens of thousands of dollars she owed in taxes. Also, roommates, make sure you go ahead and subscribe and like this video.

[00:00:44]>> Everybody I know in this business got audited and everybody came out with the big bill. I just couldn't continue to pay that and pay all my other bills. And then when things are breaking and things are closing because the ceiling falls and you have one disaster after another, I just got in over my head and I still was trying to make it work.

[00:01:00]>> So she had a fundraising event and met this woman, an entertainment lawyer in California, Sierra Carter. And soon after Channing Smith, another lawyer.

[00:01:09]They're also best friends.

[00:01:10]>> And she would hate for me to go out of business. So what is it I need? She says, "I want to help you." She said, "I'm here because I want to help you.

[00:01:17]What do you need? Do you need 10,000?

[00:01:18]What can I do to help you?" We sat down and I'm an open book. I told him everything that I needed, everything that was going on and where I was at this point in the business. I said, "You know what? I don't want to handle the administrative part. I don't even have to handle the cash, which is what they were handling because they were handling the administrative part, but I just wanted to know that I get my catering, okay? And I want to have control over teaching you the business." She says they presented her with a deal memo on February 16th, a two-page agreement that did have some grammatical errors. Quote, "Marilyn shall dissolve the current business entity. Sierra and Channing shall create a new business entity in order to operate under Maryland's current lease terms." She also says the lawyers paid about $21,300 off RIP to get the debts down. So that 21,000 that is something. Did they give that to you to to make you in the black again or was that how much debt you were in?

[00:02:22]>> Well, no. What the $21,000 did, it helped catch me up on my rent.

[00:02:27]>> It's all spelled out here. That $21,000 it went to rent, outstanding operating debts, and backed up payroll. The deal goes on to say, quote, "Marilyn is to license her name, likeness, recipes, and potential trademarks, as well as train Sierra Enchanting to operate the business. In exchange, Sierra Enchanting is to give Chef Marilyn a $5,000 per month stipend a 6040 percentage split of proceeds from catering. Marilyn would also split net profit of sales with them while also ensuring that outstanding debts were paid." When they presented this to you, were you just did you just sign it on the spot? Did you reach out to an attorney about this?

[00:03:07]>> No. I mean, you know what? I honestly thought I never thought they're both attorneys. I thought two young attorneys, they have their lives in front of them. They wanted to help me.

[00:03:20]They came to me. I've never seen either one of these girls before in my life. I had no idea that two girls that went to college, that went on to law school to do what they did, could do something to me.

[00:03:31]>> She says Easter weekend is when it really hit the fan.

[00:03:34]>> They forgot to put uh two catering jobs up on Saturday where one was supposed to be delivered to Compton at 12:00 and the other one came in to pick up their order. I had no knowledge of this. They weren't on the board and they were paid in full. We had one customer screaming because they didn't have their order and then the other one came in. I had to personally make the order that was supposed to be delivered at 12 and I personally delivered it to Compton at 4:30 and then the other one I fixed their order and they were able to come in so I saved it.

[00:04:05]>> Did you guys talk about how things are supposed to be run, how ordering goes.

[00:04:09]They were bringing the wrong size stuff.

[00:04:12]The um turkey necks were too small.

[00:04:15]People were complaining. The pork chops were so thin you couldn't even smother them. I mean, they were just bringing then they ordered so much chicken that we didn't even have place to store the chicken and I had to break it down personally. Nobody was there helping me break that chicken down. It was cases of chicken that I broke down and I put in the freezer so we wouldn't lose it. And I even told them, you guys, we need to come together and work together. We're not going to make it if we're working apart. They didn't want to work with me.

[00:04:45]They wanted to take complete control.

[00:04:47]She says they started diminishing her role, calling her an employee.

[00:04:51]>> I came to work on Monday. I was mad. I told them about the orders on Saturday.

[00:04:56]Nobody ever apologized to me. Then Channing told me, "You've been working every single day since we've been here.

[00:05:04]You have not had a day off."

[00:05:05]>> She took that day off, but came back to a disaster. She says, >> "Thursday went in, they didn't have any supplies. I need my stuff in the morning. I don't want you going to get anything at 9 and 10:00 and I got to cook it and we open at 11:00. They weren't letting me order. They took over the ordering. They were ordering the wrong stuff and it was just frustrating.

[00:05:27]And then telling people I'm an employee.

[00:05:29]I was embarrassed. I was humiliated and I was mad.

[00:05:33]>> She admits she went to a doctor to get checked out. She's 71 years old and the stress was starting to wear on her.

[00:05:40]>> My pressure was so high when I went to my doctor. She said, "You can't continue like this."

[00:05:46]>> She says she stopped going to work altogether. You can see on April 10th, 11th, and 12th, Channing sends Marilyn emails asking where she is and why isn't she showing up for her shifts. I was mistreated. I was dog behind Easter and I couldn't take it anymore. I was going to break. No telling what would have happened if I had stayed there. it was better for me to leave and go and see my doctor and deal with my pressure because I was going to explode.

[00:06:15]>> She had her doctor send a note for a leave of absence. She then got this email in return. Quote, "Unfortunately, you had not rendered services as specified in our deal. Prior to us receiving notification of your leave, you had not shown up for multiple days.

[00:06:31]To date, you still have not provided any recipes. And before you stop rendering services, you express concern about us using your face and other likeness in our operations. These actions, among many others, have made it impossible to continue per our deal and are in conflict with the essence of our agreement. End quote. They agreed to pay her for the shifts she did work and said this quote, "Given the circumstances, we will no longer use your name and likeness as of May 1st, 2026. We hope that you are able to use this time to get well and we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

[00:07:05]>> I was pushed out. I was moved out. I was disrespected and I didn't deserve that.

[00:07:12]>> Her frustration documented on social media with fans and customers outraged about it.

[00:07:18]>> They didn't change the locks.

[00:07:19]>> Yeah, they changed the locks. Yeah, they did.

[00:07:20]>> People were riding up and saying and calling and everything else saying, "You can't open this. This business will never open." They let them know they can never be on this corner. And it does seem people in Crunchaw stick together.

[00:07:32]After this video went viral, the business hasn't been open since.

[00:07:36]>> I had no idea that the world was going to come and support me like they have.

[00:07:40]It's overwhelming that people actually care. We as black people are sticking together for something.

[00:07:46]>> Chef Marilyn says that she did hire an attorney who has been working with the landlord to get her business back just on Tuesday. In fact, she said that she was able to go inside and see what they did to her restaurant. The photocopier is gone. I had pantry stuff. I had food.

[00:08:03]So, they took some of their stuff, but they took some of my stuff, too, because I had more stuff than this. These two blue bags are the blue bags that were in the bottom of that freezer that was smelling horribly that was full of chicken, fish, and whatever else that was left in the restaurant. I know the cash register is gone. All the credit card machines are gone. Pictures of my catering books and stuff are thrown on the floor. are pictures of her deceased family members missing. She says they left old chicken and fish behind. Flies and trash juice was everywhere.

[00:08:36]>> They didn't leave me a quarter. I mean, what did I do to deserve this?

[00:08:40]>> And that's a question a lot of people are asking right now on social media going to bat for a chef and a staple who's been cooking and serving Krenshaw since the late 1980s.

[00:08:50]>> They really stole auntie's business.

[00:08:52]>> I've seen some of her family and stuff.

[00:08:54]Y'all need to help her get her establishment back and help her fix her food because she should still be there. She needs to be there for the culture.

[00:09:04]>> The backlash enough for Sierra Carter and Channing Smith to go public themselves sharing their side of the story.

[00:09:11]>> You know, we're heartbroken. All of these statements are are not true.

[00:09:15]>> Everything in the space that we're standing in would have been gone. The employees wouldn't have had any jobs. Up until that point, the employees weren't even being paid. There was so many unpaid bills. We had to set up a new business structure. Uh with Chef Marilyn filing a bankruptcy, it was the only way to keep the restaurant open, pay the bills, pay the employees, pass payroll.

[00:09:34]We were even paying her outstanding debts that she had to keep the business around. We also paid for her bankruptcy attorney.

[00:09:40]>> We asked Chef Marilyn if she wanted to be a member of this new business structure and she said no. She told us she only wanted to be a chef. So, we made this deal with her where she would receive proceeds from the restaurant and the catering and where she would be compensated for her work in the kitchen and for us to use her name likeness recipes. Um, since we've made that dildo, she hasn't been coming into the restaurant regularly. She didn't share those recipes. We have tried over and over to get her to meet with us for over the last 2 weeks. Um, we've paid Marilyn everything that we owe her so far under our deal and instead she made this video. yesterday saying terrible things about us.

[00:10:20]>> We don't want people to walk away from the restaurant, especially because they believe in something that isn't true. It will only hurt the employees and the business that we were working so hard to save.

[00:10:30]>> Now, I did reach out to Channing Smith and Sierra Carter about this, offering them a chance to share their side of the story. They did send me a statement and it reads in part, quote, "Like the many people who have responded favorably to Chef Marilyn's story and her fundraising videos, we responded to the tears of our elder known for her legacy in our community. We know it's compelling."

[00:10:51]Sierra went to her fundraiser and together we responded to her plea for help when she cried about her many debts and said she needed immediate assistance. She asked us to act quickly to save the restaurant because she had to declare bankruptcy. She told us at the time that she did not want to be an owner because she didn't want her bankruptcy to affect the new business.

[00:11:14]We gave her time to review the deal memo and suggested more than once. Then an attorney or someone she trusts review it with her. We spent significant funds starting to pay off her debts, pay the rent, and pay the staff. To this day, we have not personally received any profit from the restaurant. Unfortunately, almost everything we've done involving Chef Marilyn's has been twisted to tarnish our good names. Twice, we have maintained silence in order to try to work out a resolution with Marilyn in good faith and hope that we were close.

[00:11:45]To be respectful and constructive, we have turned down interviews. Twice, Maryland has responded with more interviews, more videos, more false stories, even with the knowledge that they were leading to threats on our lives. What began as a way for us to help save and sustain an iconic black womanowned business has become a nightmare for us and our families. We are understanding that Maryland needs to raise funds because of her debts. it's unacceptable that attacks on our character form the basis of the fundraising initiative. End quote. Now, Chef Marilyn says the damage has already been done. Her focus now is figuring out how to restore her brand and learn just not to sign a deal without hiring her own lawyer to look over the agreement.

[00:12:32]She told me though she does plan to reopen and perhaps plan a day where everything again is 99 cents like the old days. To do that though, she does need help. She did launch a GoFundMe page where she's asking for help to get back on her feet. And of course, we'll have a link on our website, the shadverroom.com. For TSR Investigates, I'm Justin Carter. Hello roommates, and thank you for watching our YouTube channel. Do you want more TSR Investigates? Be sure to subscribe and check us out at theshroom.com.