Nick Lacy breaks silence on ‘$12,000’ Japan restaurant bill after viewers flood table with food orders

Twitch streamer Nick “Lacy” has addressed the backlash over his claims that he paid $12,000 at a restaurant in Japan after viewers allegedly placed food orders using his table’s QR code. The 23-year-old admitted that he was joking about paying the entire amount and later realised he had misunderstood the situation. In a post on X on October 29, 2026, Lacy explained that a language barrier caused the confusion. He also apologised to the restaurant for not correcting his earlier statements sooner.Nick “Lacy” explains why he joked about paying $12,000 at a restaurant in JapanThe controversy started during Lacy's October 28 livestream from Japan. While eating at a restaurant, the streamer reportedly showed the QR code used by customers to place food orders. Some viewers noticed it and allegedly started ordering food for his table without his permission.Things became uncomfortable when restaurant staff approached him about the additional orders. Lacy initially said that the total had reached around 1.6 million Japanese yen, which he described as almost $12,000.During the livestream, he expressed his frustration with viewers and complained about the amount of food they had ordered. He also said he had offered to pay for the extra food and asked the restaurant to give it to other families rather than waste it.However, his claims soon faced questions on Reddit. Several users on the r/LivestreamFail subreddit accused him of making the story sound worse than it actually was.One Reddit user, Apart-Volume9340, claimed that restaurant staff had asked Lacy several times whether the additional orders belonged to him. According to the user, the staff never prepared most of the food and instead gave him a receipt so he could identify the items he had actually ordered.Another user, valcatrina, also questioned the $12,000 claim and argued that the restaurant would not simply charge him for food ordered by strangers.The restaurant's side of the story also became part of the discussion. According to a report by Dexerto on October 29, Zauo Shibuya denied charging customers for food they had not ordered. Its reported statement said staff checked orders with customers and only charged them for items they had consumed. The restaurant also acknowledged that some extra dishes had already been prepared.Nick “Lacy” apologises to the restaurant and admits he made a mistakeFollowing the criticism, Lacy shared a detailed explanation on X on October 29. He said he initially believed he was responsible for the entire amount because of the language barrier.According to the streamer, he had agreed to cover the bill and left his assistant to handle the situation after his livestream was interrupted. He later returned to streaming while still believing he owed $12,000. This was when he started joking about the situation.He wrote:"I wanna clear up the restaurant situation in Japan. Due to the language barrier, I genuinely thought I was responsible for a $12,000 bill initially. I told the restaurant I’d cover it, asked them to give the extra food to families, and left my assistant to handle everything because my stream was cut and i wanted to get back."Lacy then admitted that he continued making jokes without knowing the complete situation. He also explained that he only learned later that he had to pay for the additional food that had already been prepared, rather than the entire amount.The streamer accepted that his failure to correct the story earlier was his mistake."Where I went wrong was not correcting the story once I found out. I never expected it to go so viral, and im dumb and thought it was funny."Lacy further said that he was not bothered by the criticism itself, but he did care about the attention the restaurant received because of his comments.He added that he had contacted the restaurant to make things right and apologised for not explaining the situation sooner. He also made it clear that the restaurant was not responsible for what happened.Importantly, Lacy has not revealed the exact amount he eventually paid for the additional food. His clarification makes it clear that the $12,000 figure was what he initially believed he owed, not the confirmed amount he paid.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.