Tiki Loco Owner Oliver Peck Embroiled in Blackface Controversy

After photos of himself wearing blackface surfaced on social media, famed tattooer Oliver Peck, who also owns Deep Ellum vegetarian eatery Tiki Loco, is in some seriously hot water.

Over the past week, multiple photos captioned with racial slurs and depicting Peck in an offensive Halloween costume that included full-body blackface makeup and an “Afro” wig went viral on social media. Originally posted to his MySpace account, the photos also depict Peck in a second costume — a Playboy bunny outfit in which he also paints his face and body a much darker tone.

After the photos went viral, Peck issued an apology via his Instagram account. “I want to profusely apologize for my completely inappropriate, insensitive, and immature behavior,” Peck wrote. “I was 100 percent wrong to depict myself this way and I take full responsibility for my immature, misguided perspective, total lapse of judgment, and insensitivity.” Last week, Peck “mutually” parted ways with InkMaster, the Paramount Television reality TV show that he’s served as a judge on for 13 seasons.

While InkMaster has parted ways with Peck, it doesn’t appear that Peck plans to part ways with Tiki Loco. As previously reported by Eater, Peck opened the vegetarian-only spot in 2018 to a great deal of fanfare, and the spot has earned raves from plant fans for its smoothies and veggie-packed savory dishes.

The restaurant has not issued a statement on the controversy, and neither Peck nor Tiki Loco have responded to Eater’s requests for comment.