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Wishbone Kitchen’s Meredith Hayden is calling out Bon Appétit after the brand announced its latest series — that shares the same name as her own video series.
In a TikTok video on her Wishbone Kitchen account on Tuesday, Feb. 11, Hayden shared her reaction to the announcement of Bon Appétit‘s “Dinner With Friends” series — the same name as her YouTube series, which sees her invite guests over as they cook a seasonal meal and chat about life.
“So Bon Appetit launched a new video series today, based on dinner parties. Guess what it’s called?” she begins her TikTok, showing a clip of the magazine’s new series (although the first installment of Bon Appétit’s “Dinner With Friends” is an article that doesn’t appear to have a video component).
“Now, in case you’re new here, ‘Dinner With Friends’ is the name of my dinner-party video series that I launched on YouTube in January 2024. It is self-directed, self-produced, and self-shot, most of the time. I’ve done this all on my own, all by myself,” Hayden says in part.
Hayden also said in her TikTok that both her and Bon Appétit‘s branding uses pink and red text and logos.
“Now, I’m not going to accuse them of copying me because I’m not stupid. I know the name ‘Dinner With Friends’ is not a revolutionary title,” she adds. “But they should’ve done some due diligence and at least given it a Google to make sure that title wasn’t already spoken for.”
According to the Condé Nast-owned brand, Bon Appétit’s “Dinner With Friends” will feature tips from Test Kitchen editor Kendra Vaculin as she educates readers on how to host a better dinner party.
“[Vaculin] throws a real-life get-together in her apartment each month tackling a common hosting challenge. Then she passes her expert game plan along to you—the menu, the grocery and prep lists, and all her tips and tricks,” a post on the magazine’s Instagram announcing the series states.
Hayden also claimed the caption on Bon Appétit‘s post was similar to her own branding — the magazine writes that readers should “[Get] on the group chat to see who’s free Friday night.”
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” the cookbook author continues. “The coincidences are just too many. If you’re [unfamiliar], my newsletter, where I post all the menus from ‘Dinner With Friends,’ is called ‘The Group Chat.’ Bon Appétit, what the actual hell is going on? I’m so angry.”
“You rejected me to work there for two years,” she finishes. “And I accepted that. But now, now that I’ve gone off on my own, and made something for myself, you have to take that too? Stop…If it was an honest mistake, I get it, but I expect a new name and new branding from you within 24 hours.”
Condé Nast did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Hayden has been a well-known food influencer for several years, first going viral on TikTok in 2022 when she would share videos of herself cooking and working as a private chef for a wealthy family in the Hamptons each summer. Since then, she’s hosted her own cooking shows (including ‘Dinner With Friends,’ which has seen celebrity guests like Hasan Minhaj and Joe Jonas) and has written a cookbook, titled “The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook: Seasonal Recipes for Everyday Luxury and Elevated Entertaining.”
After posting her video, Hayden told The Cut in a statement: “The entire situation is extremely disheartening, and just another example of traditional media’s unwillingness to properly embrace, acknowledge, and credit digital creators.”
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