When online behavior ends in real-life consequences…
A controversial livestreamer found himself behind bars this weekend after refusing to pay his nearly $400 bill at a Nashville restaurant – and of course, it was all caught on camera.
28-year old Dalton Eatherly goes by “Chud the Builder” online, and has built up a large following for his livestreams where he attempts to rage bait people in Nashville by using racial slurs and anti-Semitic language. Several of his interactions have gone viral recently, with Eatherly claiming that he’s promoting freedom of speech as he threatens people with bear spray when they get angry.
In one viral interaction, Eatherly argued with an older white man outside of popular Broadway bar Honky Tonk Central who took issue with his use of racial slurs, and in another he directed a racial slur at a security guard outside of Barstool Nashville after being denied entry into the bar. Even far-right streamer Nick Fuentes, known for his use of racially charged language himself, has denounced Chud the Builder as “not nice” and “unethical,” if that tells you anything about his content.
A real winner, clearly.
But unfortunately for Chud, freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences.
Over the weekend, Eatherly was livestreaming while having dinner at Bob’s Steak and Chophouse, an upscale restaurant in downtown Nashville located in the Omni Hotel and connected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. But according to police reports – and the video livestreamed by Eatherly – staff didn’t appreciate him streaming from the restaurant and eventually asked him to leave.
Staff asked him to pay his bill as he was being kicked out, but Eatherly refused and dropped racial insults on the way out. But the restaurant called the police, who caught up to the livestreamer a few minutes later and took him into custody.
According to the police report, the restaurant says Eatherly had consumed two entrees, multiple appetizers, and alcoholic beverages, though Chud says he was kicked out while eating his appetizers and therefore he wouldn’t be paying his bill. The total was reportedly $371.21.
Eatherly was ultimately booked into the Davidson County Jail and charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was later released on a $2,500 bond.
The arrest could present more problems for Eatherly, a native of nearby Clarksville, Tennessee who’s already facing charges in Montgomery County for harassment from 2025. He’s currently out on bond for those charges, which were recently bound over to the grand jury, meaning the district attorney (or the bonding company) could ask that his bond be revoked now that he’s picked up new charges.
For his part, Eatherly has defended not paying for his food by claiming that he was kicked out before he had a chance to eat, and blaming his ejection on people calling the restaurant to complain after seeing on livestream that he was eating there.
He is set to appear in court in Nashville on the new charges on July 17, 2026.
