The Real Reason TikTok's Favorite Sandwich Artist Was Banned

A famous man with the last name de Caprio has stopped making sandwiches on the internet, but not on his own accord. No, we're not talking about the American actor who starred in "Titanic," but rather the Italian TikTok star Donato de Caprio, who has racked up over 1.5 million followers on the platform for displaying the heedless yet mesmerizing fashion with which he assembles paninis at the old-school Napolitano salumeria where he works. 

His technique is decidedly similar to the one you might employ while making yourself a snack at two in the morning with the miscellaneous deli meats and condiments in your fridge, but with an air of ease and expertise that the average famished home cook might lack. The sandwiches look great, featuring draped mountains of mortadella and thick slices of mozzarella on freshly baked bread, but de Caprio's style, which many viewers call "chaotic," is his main draw (via The Takeout).

Unfortunately, de Caprio's employers weren't so keen on their store being virally publicized. In a video released this week, the sandwich artist explained to his followers why his sandwich videos are finito for the time being. 

If you're not up to speed on your Italian Duolingo goals, you might not be able to understand Donato de Caprio's explanation of why he's no longer allowed to film himself making sandwiches at his work, the Naples salumeria Ai Monti Lattari. According to a comment relayed by The Takeout, the owners of the shop "had become annoyed by the flood of TikTok tourists displacing the shop's longtime regulars." One such tourist was an influencer who flew all the way from NYC to Naples just to try de Caprio's slapdash sandwiches for himself. 

"Ai Monti Lattari's third-generation owners could do little besides watch helplessly as their decades-old business — which doesn't even specialize in sandwiches — transformed into the Donato show," writes The Takeout, which adds that the sandwich maker's fans have retaliated by giving the shop one-star Google reviews and "accusing the owners of ingratitude" on Instagram. Perhaps Donato will find another counter on which to create mozzarella and meat-laden sandwiches for all the world to see.