It’s been nearly two years since Jackson Lonie appeared on Married at First Sight (MAFS) in early 2022. You’d think that after all that time and several low-interest Team Ellis Boxing matches, he would be well out of the media by now. Welp, I’d thought as much, until he started beefing with a small pizza business over a *checks notes* $50 meal deal.
Yes, really.
The TV groom is copping some serious heat after he lashed out at Artie’s Woodfire Pizza on September 30 for allegedly pulling a fast one on him.
Taking to the ‘gram, Jackson told his 121,000 followers to boycott the Gold Coast business because it was “no good” and will “rip you off”.
According to the 32-year-old (AKA a fully grown man), he ordered two “large” pizzas and two sides as listed in an advertised deal. However, he only received two “small” pizzas with his delivery.
A day later, Artie’s Woodfire Pizza fired back on TikTok, explaining that the $50 meal deal wasn’t valid when Jackson ordered.
The deal he was after — two large pizzas and two small pizzas for $53.90 — is “only available Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night from 5 pm”. Old mate ordered on a Saturday.
“We even stated that in the description for easy reading as well,” the Artie’s TikTok explained alongside screenshots from their website.
“Yet, he didn’t read and placed the order … when our deal is not applied.”
The video continued: “[Jackson] didn’t even read that we have different sizes for him to choose from.
“And now; he started posting on his social media to boycott our small business [saying] that we lied, when he was the one who cannot read.” Artie’s goes boom!
The pizzeria also claimed they “got threats” as a result of Jackson’s video but luckily, they garnered a shit-ton of support.
“Why are people like this? It’s hard enough to run a small business but social media is so toxic for this stuff,” one TikToker commented.
Unfortunately, the drama didn’t stop there. Jackson hit social media for round two with Artie’s, because those criticising him “don’t know all the context”.
“I’m gonna have to address this because you’re all coming at me,” he said in another Instagram Story. “Now the thing is, you don’t know all the context, which is fine, you only saw what you’ll see. And I completely understand why you’d all be mad going by that context.”
Okay, ploise exploin then.
Per Jackson’s story, while he admitted he “didn’t read” the ad deals “properly”, the advertisement’s link allegedly took him directly to “the deal that was meant to be there”.
“That was the issue,” he said, adding that is what he tried to explain to the restaurant over the phone. However, he claimed he was “met with hostility”.
“I don’t like slandering a small business,” Jackson concluded. “It’s not good, it’s not what I’d want to do. But if you’re gonna push me, I’m gonna push back.”
But wait! There’s more!
Artie’s Woodfire Pizza then posted ANOTHER TikTok, showing all those following the Jackson vs. Artie’s saga what the site looks like when ordering via the link Jackson allegedly used on the Saturday.
“When the deals are not available, there will be no deal options for anyone to choose from and they are only allowed to choose the pizza organically from our menu sections,” the pizzeria’s video said.
It also shared screenshots from a message thread between the two parties, in which Jackson said he still believed the business was “in the wrong”, so he wouldn’t be taking down his videos calling them out.
Mamma mia!
