The Chili’s restaurant chain took to its official Twitter Wednesday to mourn the passing of Vine star Adam Perkins, who famously parodied the eatery in his viral video sketch “Welcome to Chili’s.”
“We are saddened by the news of Adam Perkins passing,” tweeted the Texas-based restaurant group Wednesday of the Boston-born influencer’s death. “He brought laughter to so many of us and will always be remembered and cherished. Rest In Peace, Adam.”
His family soon discovered that not all social-media presences would be so respectful.
Adam’s twin, Patrick Perkins, first announced via Instagram on Tuesday that his 24-year-old brother had died on April 11 — but chose not to disclose the cause of death.
Chili’s also shared with its 405,700 followers a touching TikTok montage compiled by Patrick, which depicted the late star getting a haircut, petting a dog and other candid snapshots from his life.
Patrick captioned the moving montage, “Adam Perkins 1997 — forever and ever. I love you my brother. Always.”
This followed a series of heartwarming tributes from a variety of friends and admirers, including Instagram icon and fit-fluencer Amanda Cerny and Adam’s ex-boyfriend Kelton Elliot.
Unfortunately, while the majority of fans posted respectful homages, others repeatedly pestered Patrick about about how Adam had passed away.
The late viral video star’s protective sibling was quick to shut down prying posters. “Think I need to take this opportunity to explain something to you: If the cause of death is not released, there is a reason,” he wrote to his 64,700 followers on the ‘Gram.
Patrick added, “There is intention in every part of this. Please respect both of us by not asking that question … not sure how it’s not obvious that I didn’t say for a reason. Everything in this is intentional. Please respect that.”
Adam first garnered online attention with the aforementioned “Welcome to Chili’s” skit in 2015 on the now-defunct Vine platform, in which he shouts the restaurant chain’s iconic tagline while in his boxers.
The viral clip amassed over 20 million loops in one year and spawned multiple parodies and remixes.
He went on to create a series of humorous videos on the video-sharing app and popularized the hashtag #whiteteen.
Before Vine went belly up, Perkins had amassed 290,000 followers.
A talented musician as well, the polyglot graduated from NYU with a degree in musical composition and dropped his first album, “Latch Relay,” in 2018 under the name Plas Teg.
