Michael Porter Jr. has entered the debate over American tipping culture – and openly admitted that service workers may not enjoy his position.
During an appearance on the Ball in the Family podcast, Porter argued that automatically calculating gratuity as a percentage can produce unreasonable totals on expensive purchases. He used a $3,000 restaurant bill as his clearest example, questioning why the expected tip should rise to $600 simply because the cost of the meal was higher. Porter said:
“If you spending $3,000 on a meal, you shouldn’t have to tip $600, twenty percent.
Uber Eats is another thing. If the Uber Eats order is $250, why are you still tipping 20% when they’re doing the same amount of work as if you ordered a $20 meal. They still just bringing the meal to you.
I would say tipping culture is definitely out of control. But I’m a bad tipper, I ain’t going to lie”
Michael Porter Jr. says the 20% tipping culture is out of control and you shouldn’t have to tip $600 on a $3,000 meal
“If you spending $3,000 on a meal, you shouldn’t have to tip $600, twenty percent”
“Uber Eats is another thing. If the Uber Eats order is $250, why are you… pic.twitter.com/G9hdG9UXqD
— dank (@cptdankkk) August 6, 2026
His argument is based on the idea that effort does not always increase alongside the price of an order. A delivery driver transporting a $250 meal may travel the same distance and complete essentially the same task as someone delivering a much cheaper order. Porter therefore questions why the gratuity should multiply automatically with the bill.
The restaurant example is more complicated. A higher bill may involve a larger group, more courses, longer service and additional work from servers and other staff. In many American restaurants, gratuities also remain a significant part of employee compensation. Porter did not offer an alternative formula or suggest that customers should stop tipping entirely. His complaint was specifically aimed at treating 20 percent as a universal obligation regardless of the circumstances.
