Salt Bae in hot water again for forcibly kissing Kylian Mbappe

Turkish celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe, a.k.a. Salt Bae, has gained notoriety after crashing Argentina's World Cup celebrations at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar last week. Now, he is being slammed even more after a video resurfaced of him kissing French forward Kylian Mbappe.

The Paris-Saint Germain forward was seen in an old video taken from a visit to Salt Bae's Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Mykonos. The steakhouse magnate is sitting with his arm around the footballer as Mbappe tells the camera: "It was a good night. A pleasure to come with my man."

Salt Bae replies, "Always," before pulling the Frenchman in for a kiss on the cheek. The gesture caused fans to cringe, with many pointing out the chef's penchant for invading the personal space of famous footballers.

The video was taken from July 2021, but it resurfaced after Salt Bae received heavy criticism for "pestering" Argentina captain Lionel Messi for a selfie on the pitch after Argentina beat France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Qatar.

Salt Bae was also seen taking photos with other Argentina players, and he even held the golden trophy at one point and posed for a photograph with it. It may be remembered that only World Cup winners and heads of state are allowed to touch the said trophy with bare hands (although the families of winners have often been allowed to hold it).

Fans questioned why the chef was allowed into the pitch in the first place, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino being blamed due to his close friendship with the Instagram star.

Infantino has since unfollowed Salt Bae on social media and FIFA has announced an investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, memes have started to flood the internet featuring the Mbappe kiss as well as the Messi incident.

As it turns out, Salt Bae also crashed Real Madrid's UEFA Champions League victory party after they defeated Liverpool in the final in 2018. He was seen posing for photos with the trophy alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo.