His Gilbert bakery went viral. Now he’s catching heat for supporting the manosphere

Sablé Boulangerie’s long lines and charismatic pastry chef solidified a new Gilbert bakery’s status as one of the year’s buzziest openings around the Valley. 

The tiny bakery in Gilbert’s Heritage District opened in May, buoyed by hype from traditional and social media alike. People have camped out and waited for hours to see if the bakery’s picture-perfect French-inspired patisserie lived up to the hype. 

Pastry chef Will Porter is also a draw. Tall, fit and classically handsome, the chef walks the line with a security guard to chat with people and packages pastries into rich-hued orange boxes. Customers aren’t shy about voicing their reasons for visiting the bakery.

“I came for you,” a woman yells off-camera in a video posted to the bakery’s Instagram on Sunday. 

The viral bakery has more than 335,000 followers on TikTok and 275,00 followers on Instagram. Porter’s personal page, which shows a mix of his bakes, world travels and the occasional shirtless gym selfie, has 120,000 followers. 

Now, Porter is catching heat, and it’s not from the oven. 

His appearance on a show discussing opinions within the manosphere has left fans with questions.  

Porter appeared on “Surrounded,” an unscripted political debate web series by Jubilee Media. 

On the episode, he claimed “women care more about looks than personality,” and said the men who don’t stress over being blown off by women usually have “a lot of options.” 

“The women that people in my age group are dating, they’ve been on dating apps, they’ve been on Instagram their whole life. So, they’ve been inundated with interest from men, like truly inundated,” Porter said on the episode. “I think that’s created this really warped sense of reality for a lot of women and I think it’s just starting to affect men really deeply.”

The episode, titled “Mark Manson vs. the Manosphere,” was posted on YouTube on Sunday. On the show, one prominent figure debates 20 to 25 people who sit on the other side of the fence. Past “Surrounded” guests have included slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Manson is a relationship coach turned best-selling author who wrote “Models: Attract Women through Honesty” and “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.” The manosphere is an umbrella term that encompasses comedians and podcasters like Joe Rogan, as well as controversial influencers like Andrew Tate, who was arrested in Miami over the weekend with his brother on new charges that include rape and sex trafficking.

The human rights group UN Women describes the manosphere as a collection of online communities that promote narrow and aggressive definitions of masculinity. Merriam-Webster defines the phrase as “referring to male-centered websites, internet communities and other digital media regarded collectively as espousing anti-feminist views, typically involving misogyny and associated with far-right ideologies.”

Porter appears several times in the nearly 90-minute episode, taking a seat at the center table with Manson twice.

Clips of Porter on “Surrounded” began circulating on social media after the episode was posted. Porter briefly turned off comments on Sablé’s Instagram and TikTok accounts. Commenting on his personal Instagram remains disabled. On Tuesday morning, the chef provided a statement to Phoenix New Times.

“I understand why my participation in a video framed around the ‘manosphere’ and Andrew Tate raised serious concerns,” Porter said. “I want to be clear: I do not support Andrew Tate, misogyny or any ideology that demeans women.”

What happened in the “Surrounded” episode?

“Surrounded” host John Regalado kicks off the episode with a question: “Has feminism held men back or has the manosphere distorted what masculinity means for an entire generation?” 

He takes a seat at the center of a circle of people surrounding Manson, made up of 16 men and two women. The predominantly young group sits in white folding chairs in what appears to be a bare-bones, empty warehouse. The group includes a man in a three-piece pink suit and coordinated scarf, bros in hoodies and sunglasses and a woman who sports a puffy red parka for the entire show.

On each episode, the guest, in this case Manson, sits at a table with two microphones and a timer. Manson starts with a claim that he believes to be true and then the people in the circle scramble to grab the empty seat across from him to debate him on that assertion. The rest of the people in the circle are provided red flags. The group can cut off the debate before the 20-minute mark if most raise their flags.

Those flags are also used to poll the circle. Between debates, Regalado asks the circle whether they feel certain manosphere figures are a positive influence. Porter raises his provided red flag to show his support for Clavicular and Andrew Tate. 

Occasionally throughout the episode, “fact-check” slides roll on screen. These are provided by Straight Arrow News, a media company founded in 2021 by billionaire businessman John Ricketts.

“Surrounded” was created to spur open conversations among people in our divided times. 

“We want to show what discourse can and should look like. Sometimes it can be unproductive but other times it can be quite productive and empathetic,” Jubilee’s founder and CEO Jason Y. Lee told Variety in late 2024. 

Critics of the viral show question whether “Surrounded” changes any minds and instead just monetizes ragebait that can be infinitely clipped and shared online.

Porter, in a navy polo sweater, cropped white pants and loafers, jumps up and takes a seat at 11:30 minutes into the episode. The group is debating Manson on his claim that the manosphere is a billion-dollar business that profits off keeping men angry and insecure. 

Porter asks Manson a question: “What’s your view on men right now in 2026? Do you believe that the current situation is approximately the same as 15 to 20 years ago?”

“No, it’s much worse,” Manson replies, citing technology and economic changes, but “I don’t buy that it’s feminism’s fault.”

“Honestly, I agree with you,” Porter says. He wonders aloud if the manosphere is causing men to be angry at women or whether society is changing and online content just reflects it.

In Porter’s first exchange, he asks Manson questions more than he presents his opinions. The group votes him out of the conversation with about five minutes remaining.

Other people in the circle debate topics including a woman’s body count — a manosphere-coded term for the number of sexual partners someone has had — as well as the impact of porn on men and how much attractiveness and personality factor into a relationship.

Extreme points of view pepper the episode. One man suggests the world should have “100 more” Tates, while another blames feminism for “ruining culture and society.” One man compares a woman with several sexual partners to a totaled car.

The end of the episode may offer the best insight into Porter’s thoughts. 

“I honestly think that this was a cringefest, frankly. I’m silently freaking out,” he said in what appears to be a post-debate interview. “I really don’t want to be associated with most of the things that were said. It’s so hard, because a lot of these guys, I want to support them but they’re just so radioactive.”

To close the show, Manson chooses someone from the circle for the last conversation. That member of the circle gets to present their own claim instead of responding to the guest’s. Manson chooses Porter, who argues “women care more about looks than personality.”

Porter says women go on 10 dates a week, while men may have one date a month “with a girl they actually like.”

When Manson asks Porter what he makes of “ugly dudes with smokin-hot girls,” Porter brings up SMV, an acronym for “sexual market value,” a manosphere term for ranking someone’s worth based on their physical appearance and status. 

“Your looks, how wealthy you are, what your status is, whether you’re well known, within the balance of those three traits you’ll get to a certain point where you’re acceptable,” Porter said.

Online, people have questioned the chef’s appearance on the show.

“His entire store runs off profiting from women who think he’s charming,” one commenter wrote on Reddit, “but he’s coming off as an incel.”

Porter acknowledges how his appearance on the show could perplex others.

“Although I expressed at the end of the discussion that I did not agree with many of the views shared, I recognize that my participation still created the impression that I support ideas that diminish or disrespect women,” he said.

In the statement, Porter also apologizes.

“I am grateful for the women in my life, especially my mother and sister, whose strength, support and contributions shape who I am every day. They, and all women, deserve to be treated with dignity, equality and respect,” he said. “I am deeply sorry for any statements that suggest otherwise and am committed to showing through my words and actions that Sablé is a place where everyone is respected, valued and welcome.”

This comes at a time when Porter is also getting online backlash after he called an influencer “unprofessional” for posting a reel suggesting people visit a different Valley restaurant to avoid Sablé’s long lines.

Regalado closes the episode of “Surrounded” by teasing a follow-up that will drop on Wednesday — the same day that Sablé opens for the week.