Content creators, Onezwa Mbola and Nara Smith. Pictures: Instagram
It’s the battle of the recipes between Onezwa Mbola and Nara Smith yet again.
The Mbola and Smith saga continues as Smith is being side-eyed for allegedly stealing Mbola’s content.
Mbola, a self-taught cook from the Eastern Cape, famous on social media for making food from scratch using foraged or homegrown ingredients came out about a month ago, accusing Smith of stealing her ideas without crediting her.
“The reason to take a break on that platform is that for months now I have watched a very popular content creator use my ideas.
“They have continuously used my ideas to get views. Now that would be fine except in South Africa we don't get paid for views and where she is they get paid for views.
“So she has been making money by stealing my content. She has always managed to change the videos just so that I cannot say they are my ideas,” Mbola said in a lengthy Instagram post.
Smith, also famous on social media for making food from scratch using store-bought products, didn’t take the allegations lightly. She reportedly sent an email to Mbola, threatening her with legal action for defamation of character.
“I am writing to address a serious matter regarding your recent statements accusing me of stealing your content. You have publicly claimed that I stole your videos related to Boba tea and mozzarella cheese, which is untrue and damaging to my reputation,” read the email.
“These allegations are entirely false. The videos in question are not my original creations, and I have all the necessary proof of this on the social media platform TikTok. Your false accusations have caused significant harm to my personal and professional reputation,” continued the email.
“This email serves as a formal notice that if you don’t retract your statements and cease making defamatory claims immediately, I will have no choice but to pursue legal action against you for defamation of character.
“I strongly urge you to take this matter seriously and to address it promptly to avoid further legal consequences.”
And while some people supported Mbola, others were on Smith’s side simply because she has more than 8 million followers while Mbola has just over 650 000 followers on TikTok, where they both share their recipes.
Things took another ugly turn this week when Mbola shared a video of herself making biang biang noodles with antelope steak, where she added cauliflower and soy sauce.
Two days later, Smith made the same dish with the only difference being that she used beef steak instead of antelope because its not as easily accessible in Los Angeles.
I love this video. Perfect example of what Onezwa was complaining about but some people chose to misinterpret what she was saying Nara Smith definitely copying her. 💔 pic.twitter.com/DwmaAlbU8I
— Dr Chauke 📝 (@_BlackZA) July 16, 2024
Meanwhile, some netizens have accused Smith of now bullying Mbola, while others were unbothered by the pettiness.
“They could never make me hate you. How do you guys not see what she’s doing? I love this unbothered Nara,” commented Miss LucyLu.
Another Smith follower, @MissT, said: “She is classy this one, everything she does is classy, even the pettiness and fighting is classy but a lot don’t get it.”
However, more people have come forward to support Mbola, even the ones who didn’t believe her at first.
“The Onezwa and Nara situation is a perfect example of how whites get away with stealing black people's ideas & having cleva [clever] blacks who defend such behaviour makes it worse. Even in corporate, they do this a lot,” commented @Mabongilesi.
Another X user, @YoliShade, said: “Nara is actually so pathetic. I feel she's consciously choosing to bully Onezwa at this point, because she believes she can get away with it.”
Others said all the hate against Mbola for speaking up for herself is rooted in colourism.
“Nara Smith really copied exactly what Onezwa did 😭💀 and people were out here like ‘oooh Onezwa is bitter and jealous, oh Nara they can never make me hate you’… y’all see this colourism yenu [of yours],” commented @chrisreymond8
One may argue that there is nothing wrong with recreating someone’s recipe, which is true.
However, the problem lies in when you start making money from the same recipe without acknowledging the person who inspired you, and this was Mbola’s concern because, in South Africa, TikTok content creators don’t get paid.
Meanwhile, with every video Smith posts, she gets paid, meaning she’s making money by supposedly recreating Mbola’s videos without giving her the due credit.
Even professional chefs like Naledi Toona clarified that although it seldom happens, recipe developers must be credited.
“The recipe developer must be credited. If they are going to make money from it, they need to pay for exclusivity. This is in an ideal world, it doesn’t always happen,” said Chef Naledi.
Both Smith and Mbola could not be reached for comment.