A wine and restaurant influencer promises to help local restaurants, but then they say he turns on them.

Dylan Blau of Pacific Grove claims a combined 51,000 followers on two Instagram accounts. He has been using that in a pitch to local restaurateurs with a proposal to use those followers to promote their business as a social media influencer.

But multiple business owners say that when they declined Blau’s services or terminated a contract, he instead used his social media following to share a different message, shaming local restaurants or wineries. In a video Blau posted on Instagram on Nov. 26, he films himself on a 19-minute-long tirade in which he says he intends to report various alleged restaurant violations to multiple government authorities.

In the video, he suggests a plan to publish a comprehensive list of local eateries that he will grade on a A-F scale. He goes on to say he’s teamed up with U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to remove illegal immigrants from restaurants.

“I will be informing ICE of any restaurants… Plain and simple: I don’t support illegal immigrants working in America. They shouldn’t be here,” he said on his Instagram story.

Blau confirms that he intends to do this by emailing the agency. Blau also makes accusations of health code violations for food trucks in Monterey County, claiming that some unlicensed food trucks are serving, “rat, dog and cat meat disguised as chicken.”

“I think we need to be critical,” Blau says. “People deserve to know the truth.”

But multiple restaurateurs who have come in contact with him, many speaking on the condition of anonymity because they say they fear retaliation, say the truth is that he intimidates them if they do not hire him or do not renew a business contract.

“He’s saying he’s trying to help the industry, but how is that helpful when he says [the wine industry] is failing at every turn?” says local sommelier Andi Wrede.

Blau claims he is still focused on helping businesses. “Me talking negatively about a business and my negative experience shouldn’t make me a bad person,” Blau says, claiming that he’s also never left a negative review for a restaurant or winery.

“That’s the obligation of an influencer, to be ethically honest, to have integrity and sometimes be outspoken about problems, even if that makes you look like an asshole,” Blau adds.

Of course, anyone can post a negative review of a restaurant or other business on social media. But multiple members of the local food industry claim Blau is leveraging his influence against them in retaliation if they do not hire him.

Some people report that Blau has represented himself as working for A Taste of Monterey (he does not), or as a wine broker, a title that customarily entitles someone to receive complimentary wine tastings at tasting rooms. One restaurateur who hired him says he was given complimentary food for the duration of their contract. Blau disputes that and says he’s always paid for his meals and services.