Back in October 2020, just two months after he'd turned 21 years old, the sometimes controversial TikTok and YouTube star Bryce Hall made headlines after being involved in a caught-on-camera physical altercation with workers at the L.A. restaurant Cinco Mexican. At the time, Hall and his friends shared their widely publicized side of the story, which was at odds with how the restaurant workers portrayed the events. Now, Hall is one of several people who are being sued by Cinco's co-owner for assault, battery, and more.
Bryce Hall, friend Rory Fitzpatrick and two other males are the defendants in the lawsuit filed by Cinco's co-owner Hernan Fernando, who is suing specifically for battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and for engaging in acts of violence motivated by race, national origin, citizenship, immigration status and primary language. His claims laid out in the filing depict Hall as an instigator in the situation, which all began with the Internet personality illegally vaping in the restaurant's outdoor patio area.
According to the lawsuit (via TMZ), employees asked Bryce Hall and his friends several times to stop vaping, and Hernan Fernando requested a staff member cut their alcohol orders off and close out the party's bill. The plan was reportedly to give Hall back his credit card outside the establishment, offering further encouragement for him to leave. At this point, it's alleged that another employee heard Hall refer to Fernando with a racial slur, and that Hall followed it up by blowing vape smoke directly into Fernando's face, which was perceived as a health threat due to COVID-19 fears.
It's here that Hernan Fernando claims the situation turned violent, with Bryce Hall and Rory Fitzpatrick allegedly both hitting the restaurant co-owner multiple times, and the former was also accused of choking Fernando until another worker stepped in and split them apart. Hall & Co. were then accused of using more racial slurs and derogatory language as they left. Hall had previously stated that the restaurant didn't return his credit card that evening, which he claimed was the reason why he was angry at the time, and the lawsuit does appear to confirm that Fernando held the card to incite Hall to stick around for the cops to show up. The group was reportedly no longer there when authorities later arrived.
Beyond the emotional distress caused by the alleged use of racial epithets, Hernan Fernado claims that he suffered a broken hand on top of multiple bruises and bumps from being punched. At this time, it doesn't appear as if Bryce Hall has released any official statements on the matter.
Bryce Hall has been finding ways to keep his name in fans' mouths all throughout the pandemic, largely through his plethora of videos and TikToks and some charitable efforts, but also via his highly publicized relationship with Addison Rae (who made headlines for her own reasons in recent months) and a bit of trouble with the law. Hall was arrested with another TikTok star back in May 2020 for possession of marijuana, and in August 2020 was charged in Los Angeles with violating COVID-19 ordinances when having his 21st birthday bash.
