Can Flavor Flav Save Red Lobster?

America's foremost casual dining seafood chain is currently navigating a rough patch at sea. After Red Lobster considered filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April, the company went ahead and did so in May after citing crushing business losses from its popular $20 Endless Shrimp promotion. While the company has publicly blamed the affordable all-you-can-eat option as contributing to its financial downfall, reports have surfaced that the situation was actually much more complicated.

Thailand-based seafood company Thai Union (which owns brands like Chicken of the Sea) is Red Lobster's biggest investor, but it stands in a unique position in that it is also a major supplier to the chain, providing breaded shrimp to the company. CNN reports that behind the scenes, Thai Union eliminated the other two breaded shrimp vendor options that sold shrimp to Red Lobster, thus driving up its ingredient purchasing price, which caused further financial stress for the restaurant.

Corporate drama aside, that means we diners have to contend with the fact that the company has shuttered nearly 100 locations so far, with an additional 135 closures possibly on the way. 

It's hard not to be nervous about the possibility of losing access to the joy of salty, buttery Cheddar Bay biscuits forever, but one unlikely celebrity has stepped up to the plate to try and singlehandedly pull Red Lobster from the brink of destruction: Flavor Flav. He's infusing the chain with cash by ordering enormous amounts of food, and he might be involved in future marketing efforts to resuscitate the brand.

Rapper and hypeman Flavor Flav is best known for his role as one of the founding members of rap group Public Enemy, and his larger-than-life character has made him a fixture of pop culture throughout the years. But apparently, he's also a huge fan of Red Lobster.

Ya boy meant it when I said I was gonna do anything and everything to help @redlobster and save the cheddar bay biscuits,,, ordered the whole menu,!!! 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾 pic.twitter.com/MVBcgHe6VT

— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) June 3, 2024

Flav recently posted a photo on X of himself at a Red Lobster location with a caption saying,  "Ya boy meant it when I said I was gonna do anything and everything to help @redlobster and save the cheddar bay biscuits,,, ordered the whole menu,!!! [sic]." 

Sure enough, he does appear to be standing in front of one of the most glorious Red Lobster spreads I've ever seen, spanning multiple tables. Can one person single-handedly save a chain by ordering every item on the menu in one sitting? Maybe not. But big changes sometimes start with small actions, and in case you were wondering, no, he wasn't dining alone — TMZ reports that his daughter was with him. 

The duo must have nearly demolished the entire order, because they only left with two boxes to bring home. His son, who was disappointed about the lack of leftovers, was reportedly scheduled for a trip of his own with Flav later that day. TMZ also reported that Flav may be in talks to collaborate with the chain on some kind of marketing project. So who knows, Flav might actually be starting a Red Lobster revival movement.

Flav isn't the only celebrity who's been linked to Red Lobster recently. John Oliver, host of the Emmy-winning comedy news show "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver," purchased the contents of a shuttered Kingston, New York location, and used those items to recreate his own version of the restaurant in his show's filming studio, reports Business Insider. 

Oliver didn't do so out of fandom, however, but rather to make a point. "The frustrating thing is, it seems just about any random idiot could run a Red Lobster better than these companies have done. But there's really only one way to put that to the test," he said, before showing how he'd remodeled his set with Red Lobster paraphernalia. 

With that sentiment, I somehow doubt Oliver's going to hop into the trenches with Flavor Flav to dig the brand out from its corporate-driven demise. But I wouldn't be surprised if we got a surprise Red Lobster-themed track from Flav, or at least a video from him extolling the virtues of his favorite biscuits sometime very soon. In the meantime, expect to see more closures from Red Lobster in the future as it tries to climb out of a very deep pit littered with discarded shrimp tails.