Companies are accusing a Denver influencer of taking money and not posting

DENVER — A social media influencer accused of taking hundreds of dollars from small businesses but failing to profile their businesses on his social media pages is setting off a firestorm of allegations online.

9NEWS Investigates reviewed Venmo transactions and direct messages between several small businesses and Jonathan Davis, who runs The Denver Foodie pages on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

Within 24 hours of publishing this story, The Denver Foodie changed its name on one of its social media accounts to WhatsUpDenver303.

The allegations against the popular influencer, who has more than 500,000 followers on his accounts, began last week on TikTok and Reddit.

“We paid him and he never showed up,” Helen Chu, owner of Mr. Tang, a Korean restaurant in Aurora, told 9NEWS Investigates.

Chu showed 9NEWS a $200 Venmo transaction that went to “Jonathan Davis” and “@thedenverfoodie” last October. Chu said she never received a refund for the deposit a year later, and Davis still hasn't filmed a video at her restaurant.

“How do you do this to someone when you have so many followers? They trust you,” Chu said.

“He never did what he promised me,” said Juan Luna, owner of Metro Balderas Aztek Food in Aurora. Luna said he gave Davis food last year and paid him $200, but Davis never posted the video he shot in the kitchen.

“He never fixed it. He never called me back. He never responded to me,” Luna told 9NEWS.

“It’s just unprofessional,” said Michel Polina-Sanchez, owner of Chupacabra Paletas.

Polina-Sanchez paid Davis $300 cash in July, but Davis never released a video he shot in the kitchen where the popsicles are made.

Polina-Sanchez showed 9NEWS unanswered direct messages with Davis, showing multiple attempts to reach him over the past two months. Polina-Sanchez said Davis promised to release a video in seven days.

About two hours before this story aired on 9NEWS, the Denver Foodie account finally released the promised video for Polina-Sanchez.

During a 20-minute recorded phone call with 9NEWS, Davis admitted he was overwhelmed with some of his corporate dealings over the past year, citing a recent divorce amid an exploding social media presence.

“I couldn’t get to this point where I am now by doing dirty deals. I mean, people love me. They blow me up. My email is blown up every day. The Denver Broncos just invited me… I’m big now,” Davis told 9NEWS.

Davis initially agreed to respond to the allegations in an on-camera interview, but declined and wanted to do a telephone interview instead.

“It was really hard for me to keep up, you know. And I admit that sometimes I have bitten off more than I can chew,” Davis said. “I do everything on my own, you know, in addition to building my social media presence. It’s a lot of work.”

9NEWS asked Davis if he feels any sympathy for the companies that feel betrayed.

“I could well imagine being in her position. I would be angry too. You know, they have every right. You have every right to be angry. “I take full responsibility 100%,” Davis said.

“I will contact every single company. I'll go through my DMs [direct messages] Now that this has become an issue over the last year,” Davis told 9NEWS.

Amid the scandal, Davis is currently the target of a lawsuit from Jared Wigand, who owns and operates IMFROMDENVER's social media accounts and website.

The lawsuit, filed in June in Denver civil court, accuses Davis of fraudulently violating a non-compete agreement in a contract when Davis sold IMFROMDENVER digital assets to Wigand for $24,500 in 2021. Davis was the creator of IMFROMDENVER.

“By establishing The Denver Foodie prior to the execution of the Asset Purchase Agreement, Defendants committed fraud,” the lawsuit states.

Court records indicate that Davis has made no effort to file motions or defense pleadings in the case, but he claimed to 9NEWS that he still plans to fight the lawsuit.

Wigand is now seeking $82,502.98 from Davis, according to a late September filing.

“They came up with this five-year non-compete agreement very maliciously,” Davis said of the lawsuit.

“They made me sign a contract. And they were really deceptive. You have complied with a five-year non-compete agreement. And the only thing I did wrong with those guys was I signed that damn contract with the non-compete clause,” Davis told 9NEWS.

“Despite having every opportunity to present his case in court, he has repeatedly chosen not to appear at his scheduled court dates,” an IMFROMDENVER spokesperson wrote in a statement to 9NEWS.

“Jonathan Davis is, in our opinion, a fraudster and con artist, and we hope that the small businesses he took advantage of can get their money back, just as we want to do for our own,” the statement said.

Shortly before this story aired on 9NEWS, Davis claimed that the people behind IMFROMDENVER hacked his site and took over his email address, causing him to lose contact with companies.

Sometime on Monday or Tuesday, Davis changed the name of The Denver Foodie's Instagram account to WhatsUpDenver303. Davis claimed the name change had nothing to do with this expected news story or the lawsuit.

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