A Black woman says she spent $125 at Erewhon, then a guard stopped her twice and claimed the food she paid for was stolen

Erewhon has built its name on $20 smoothies and a celebrity crowd, but one shopper says her first visit to the Culver City store ended with a theft accusation. TikTok user Janiya, who posts as @niyy_3.0, described what she called her “shopping while Black” experience at Erewhon in a TikTok video that has drawn hundreds of thousands of views.

According to the video, Janiya ordered three smoothies at the smoothie bar for $54, then picked up two hot bar plates, a side of French toast, water and ginger shots. The register screen she filmed shows a total due of $125.86. She said she ate outside, then threw away her trash, receipt included, before heading back in to ask for a bag for a half-eaten plate.

Staff told her they could not give her a bag because the plate had no tag, so she dug the receipt out of the garbage. She showed it to a security guard, who then helped bag her items. However, she claimed that after she used the restroom, the same guard came back with a smaller receipt listing only three smoothies and said the hot plate was not hers.

Janiya says the guard told a manager “it’s always them”

Janiya said she refused to show the guard anything else, so he went to get the store manager, whom she identified as Jeff. She said she was holding the receipt with all of her items on it, and she asked the cashier who rang her up to confirm the purchase. She added that she also showed the manager videos of herself eating the food she was accused of taking.

The most serious claim in the clip concerns what the guard allegedly said to the manager. Janiya said she heard him say “it’s always them,” which she took as a remark about her race. She also questioned how she could have taken anything from the hot bar, as she said she came in through the back entrance while the hot bar sits at the front of the Erewhon store.

According to Janiya, the plate she supposedly stole held only leftover buffalo cauliflower and garlic noodles. Her receipt also shows she paid 20 cents each for two paper bags. She said she had been excited to try the chain’s viral smoothies, but she called them overpriced and said Erewhon would not get any more of her money after the way she was treated.

Most viewers sided with the shopper. One commenter said the whole incident “could have very easily been avoided” if staff had checked the cameras or had the cashier reprint the receipt. Another person, who said they walk past the same security guard every day, apologized to her, while several others urged her to take the matter to Erewhon’s corporate office or talk to a lawyer.

A few viewers pointed to a more mundane cause. One commenter argued that cashiers are supposed to put a paid sticker on each hot or cold bar item, and that a missing sticker may have set off the confusion. Similar disputes have played out elsewhere, including the case of a woman accused of stealing her Target cart even after she showed staff a receipt.

Another commenter, who said they once worked as a cashier at that Erewhon, wrote “I’ll just leave it at that” without explaining further. However, not every reply focused on the guard, as some viewers fixated on the prices instead. One person said they were still stuck on paying $54 for three smoothies, while another questioned why anyone would pay $18 for a single smoothie.

Janiya did not say in the video whether she has filed a formal complaint, and any response from Erewhon could decide whether the Culver City store changes how it handles receipt checks.

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify Erewhon’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from Janiya’s TikTok video.