In a now-viral video, a TikTok user, purported to work in the service industry, shared a receipt of a restaurant order along with a picture they took with Styles. The receipt suggests that for a $70 meal, Styles only tipped $5.
Accompanying the receipt and photo was on-screen text that said, “Harry, I’m calling you out bro.”
At the time of writing, the TikTok has amassed 1.1 million views, with the TikToker @californiasunlouis adding, “The math ain’t mathing.”
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the validity of these claims. The TikToker also didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
Nonetheless, legions of Harry Styles fans defended the star from accusations of stinginess. “Tips aren’t mandatory babes,” one commenter wrote. “Hope this helps.”
“In Europe you usually give 5-10% tip,” another noted. “So that’s usual.” Similarly, numerous other commenters added that Harry didn’t understand tipping culture because he’s British, with one commenter simply adding, “And?”
The tongue-in-cheek accusation also prompted Directioners to recall other times Styles left a more lucrative tip. This includes the time he allegedly left a $2,020 tip to celebrate 2020, and another occasion where he left $1,000 as a tip. In fact, the TikToker admitted in the comments that they remembered the latter occasion, although the Daily Dot was unable to independently verify whether the second tipping instance happened at all.
But even if the latter story isn’t true, there may well be another valid reason for Styles not tipping. Beyond defenses like British culture and the fact tipping isn’t mandatory, numerous commenters pointed out that this may have been a takeout order. “It says server: cashier and guests: 1 so he could’ve been doing takeout and you don’t get served when doing takeout,” one eagle-eyed fan noted. “Yeah, I don’t leave a tip when its pickup/takeout,” another admitted. “He did more than me.”