‘I worked there…I left for a reason’: New Jersey woman agrees to let nail tech film her for social media. Then she sees he called her ‘broke’

Going to the salon is supposed to be a fun, de-stressing experience. But one woman discovered something stressful and genuinely nerve-wracking after her appointment that made her post a video to TikTok. 

Kiani (@officialqueenbeekee) said she received a request from her nail technician, Jeff (@nailprojeff), to film her nails for content. She agreed and let the man film her session. But she said that two days after her appointment, she noticed that the nail technician posted a video with an unusual caption.

“ I see my hand [and the caption is] saying, ‘Her: I’m broke,’ with a broken heart emoji, meaning you have no money. Then [his section of the caption is] saying, ‘Me: Bet,’” Kiani said. She posted a screenshot of the on-screen text while responding to the post.

Kiani’s video subsequently received significant attention online. Her original post garnered more than 593,000 views on TikTok, and multiple content creators stitched or posted responses after seeing the video.

Subsequently, Jeff responded to the viral post, but he has since removed any content describing the incident from his social media. A repost of Jeff’s response to Kiani’s video has received 20,000 views. 

What Happened at the New Jersey Nail Salon?

Kiani said she went to Nail Studio 2 Modern Artistry in North Brunswick, New Jersey. She said that while there, her new nail technician asked if she would be comfortable with him recording. She consented, and they proceeded with the appointment. 

After her appointment, she noticed that Jeff posted a video featuring her hand. But he captioned it in a way that made it seem like she was broke.

“ How am I broke and I’m a paying client that tipped you very well? And came to the appointment … I don’t think I look broke,” Kiani asked.

The New Jersey woman pointed out that Jeff also did not post similar content referring to lighter-skinned women as broke. 

“As a woman of color, I found it very odd how, when I looked at other videos on the page of women with lighter skin or white hands, they had no kind of weird captions or anything on it. Then when my hands are posted, you’re calling me broke,” she added.

What Else Happened After the Appointment?

Kiani explained that, “to make things more weird,” Jeff sent her a message letting her know he wasn’t interested in being her nail technician anymore.

“I  didn’t even get the chance to confront him about it. … I was like, you know what? Maybe I’m making too much of this. … This made me uncomfortable, but I’ll just talk to him about it,” Kiani said. “At 11 o’clock at night, I then check my phone, and he sends me a message through the automated number that they have.”

The text message explained that Jeff was “no longer able” to take Kiani on as a client. It had no information in it as to what specifically informed the decision.

Kiani said she thought that Jeff realized she saw his post, and blocked her and dropped her as a client to avoid taking accountability, especially since she has a larger following.

“ I think he panicked, like, ‘OK, you know what? To avoid this turning into something since she saw the content that I made and me calling her broke, I’m just gonna tell her I can no longer take her as a stylist,’” Kiani said.

Later in the video, she explained that she originally thought she had found a new place to go and that she thought the appointment went well.

 How Did Jeff Respond?

In response to subsequent backlash after Kiani posted her experience, Jeff posted a video. In it, he said that not servicing Kiani in the future was a personal decision. He also said that he was just following a viral hook when creating his initial post.

“ I just wanted views on the video,” Jeff said. “That specific hook in the beginning, that text in the beginning, that was not towards her. It was just to be funny. You know what I’m saying?”

He clarified that he felt uncomfortable during his appointment with Kiani.

“The thing is, is that we can make life enjoyable with those transactions by talking to one another, by asking each other, ‘How’s your day?’ Just cool conversations, you know,” Jeff added. “As she sat in my chair, she kinda was passive-aggressive and didn’t really believe that I could do my job, asking, ‘Oh, do you wanna see the French again?’”

Businesses do reserve the right to refuse service to customers based on behavior, although many individuals who saw Kiani’s post thought that the ban was related to racism.

Ultimately, he said, “ I take full accountability for what I did on my end because that hook in the beginning of the video, that shouldn’t have been correlated with her nails and her hands.”

How Have Viewers Responded?

In the wake of Jeff’s apology, some content creators responded to the story. 

I_am_alanaJai (@nailsby_alanajai) posted one such response. In it, she criticized Jeff’s overall behavior, including his comments about Kiani being passive-aggressive.

“Are you a nail tech or a content creator? She paid you to do her nails, not to create a video bashing her,” I_am_alanaJai said. “So what the [expletive] are you upset about when she paid you for a service?”

Multiple of the content creator’s commenters said that Jeff’s description of why he let go of Kiani didn’t make sense.

“He felt uncomfortable doing her nails but was very comfortable still posting her image,” one viewer said.

“When I … use to go to them, I ain’t never spoke to them. I didn’t know that was a requirement. A simple ‘hey, thank you, have a nice day’ was all,” another added. 

Viewers from Kiani’s post generally agreed. “He chose a few likes and comments over the potential of a long-term client…That’s just bad business! I’m so sorry this happened to you love,” a viewer said. 

AllHipHop tried to reach out to Nail Studio 2 Modern Artistry via phone call and Instagram direct message and to Jeff via Instagram direct message, but each party was unreachable. Jeff’s TikTok also appears to have been deleted.

The publication also reached out to I_am_alanaJai and Kiani via email. This story will be updated with any responses.

@officialqueenbeekee PLEASE recommend some great nail stylists in the central Jersey area! Nail Studio 2 in North Brunswick really disappointed me. i’m genuinely so exhausted of spending my hard earned money on weird experiences when i just want a service done. this is why i’ve learned to do so many services on myself to avoid things like this. #nailstudio2 #nailstylist #badreview #centraljersey ♬ original sound – Kiani.

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