Tana Mongeau Accused of 'Doxxing' French Wine Tour Guide (2024)

On a recent episode of her podcast, “CANCELLED with Tana Mongeau,” the eponymous co-host of the podcast and YouTube star discussed her recent travels to Europe. One story she told, about a conflict with a wine tour guide in Paris, has Mongeau facing major backlash over accusations of “doxxing” the guide.

Mongeau explained that her and her friends booked a wine tour based on the recommendation of a friend who had been on the tour before and had a great time. However, the experience Mongeau and her friends were treated to didn’t align with their expectations.

Their tour guide met them at 8 a.m. at a train station to accompany them on a three-hour (many commenters have pointed out that based on the geography, it could not have been this long, and according to the tour guide’s website, the ride is only an hour and 15 minutes long) ride to their destination. From that point forward, Mongeau did not get along with the guide and went on to detail her awful experience. However, Mongeau’s use of the woman’s real name has been admonished by many, including her fans.

She further “doxxed” the woman by giving the name of the wine cellar they visited and encouraging listeners of her podcast to “ask for anyone but f—ing Cynthia” if they ever go there.

What follows is Mongeau’s account of what happened. Note that her co-host on the podcast, Brooke Schofield said, “I will say, you do embellish sometimes,” after hearing the story.

Tana Mongeau’s Story

Mongeau’s choice to use the woman’s real name, as opposed to Mongeau’s usual strategy of calling people by aliases, was an intentional decision, made clear by her statement at the start of the story: “I’m actually going to be calling her by her name: Cynthia. Cynthia. I wrote it down. Let me make sure that it’s f—ing Cynthia,” Mongeau said, proceeding to angrily repeat the name four more times.

Mongeau went on to call the woman a “c-nt” multiple times and say other disparaging things about her.

Certain things that frustrated Mongeau about Cynthia hardly seemed to be objectively angering. The YouTuber’s short temper may have been influenced by her hungover, sleep-deprived state (according to her story, she got 30 minutes to an hour of sleep the night before after partying all night in Paris).

Mongeau said the guide asked if the group wants a “fun” or “educational” tour, and they opted for fun — but didn’t feel that they got what they asked for. Mongeau says she put in her headphones on the train and planned to sleep during the ride.

“I feel a tap on my shoulder as I’m dozing off,” Mongeau said. “It’s Cynthia. I take my headphone out, and she proceeds to go on a 30-minute tangent to me about why Veuve Clicquot Champagne is called Veuve Clicquot Champagne.”

“Shut the f— up, Cynthia,” Schofield said in response to that detail.

The disconnect point here between Cynthia and Mongeau seems to be Mongeau’s desire to sleep before the tour begins. However, according to the online description of the tour, it had already begun at this point. The online description of the tour that the group seems to have embarked on says that the guide will “talk to you about the history of the wine, geography of the region, and how the industry is organised today” during the train ride.

Here’s where the story gets a little bit confusing. Mongeau claims her friend who purported to have booked this exact tour in the past told her that his experience was riding around on golf carts drinking wine.

So, Mongeau was horrified when Cynthia told the group that the tour would consist of walking six or seven miles — with no golf carts to be found.

Mongeau claims her friend who claimed to have previously booked the golf-carting tour asked why they would have to walk. According to Mongeau, Cynthia replied: “That’s not this one. I booked you on a different one. I thought you would like it more.”

However, the online description of the tour they likely booked mentions walking many times. Nowhere on the website are golf carts mentioned.

Mongeau says she was so distressed at the news that they would be walking six to seven miles that she put her sunglasses on to hide her tears. Mongeau said she then again tried to sleep with her headphone in but received another tap on the shoulder.

As the guide continued to discuss the day she had planned, she mentioned one of the cellars they would visit required climbing 550 stairs to reach the top. Mongeau said she asked if they could skip that one but was denied.

“I go, ‘I don’t care if Barack Obama was at the top of those stairs. I am not f—ing walking up those stairs today, Cynthia. I’ll die.”

Mongeau took offense to the guide saying she she could see about making an exception since Mongeau had “mobility issues.” In Cynthia’s defense, Mongeau claimed that she was “physically incapable” of walking up the stairs, which doesn’t seem far off from “mobility issues.”

Mongeau described Cynthia’s attitude toward her as condescending, saying that on the walk from the station, the guide continuously asked Mongeau if she was OK in a way Mongeau described as not genuine.

Mongeau was further frustrated on the walk over by the guide’s education on “everything that’s happening,” including fertilization.

After walking for about an hour and 15 minutes, Mongeau says the guide tapped her and asked her to take her headphones out during the tour, telling Mongeau that she was “being extremely disrespectful.”

Mongeau says she then became so outraged that she started laughing, which is apparently a thing that happens when she gets angry. Soon afterward, Mongeau says she asked her friend to call her a car service from Paris to pick her up, as she no longer wanted to participate in the tour.

When they arrived at the first stop on the tour and sat down and prepare to drink wine, Mongeau says she was “heartbroken” when Cynthia pulled up a chair to drink with them — although a wine tour guide drinking wine with attendees of her tour seems like an expected occurrence.

At this point, Mongeau says her friend heard back and informed her that the soonest car would take three hours to pick them up. Cynthia asked Mongeau multiple times if she was sure she wanted to cancel the tour, making sure she was aware that she had a lunch reservation already set up. This further frustrated the YouTuber, who said she had to tell the guide that she was sure many times.

As Cynthia poured them a taste of wine, Mongeau says she had tears in her eyes and was “so so unhappy” but trying her best.

Mongeau and her co-host then appeared to insinuate that the tour guide was autistic. “I think she had a touch of the… a touch of the —” Mongeau said before Schofield interrupted with: “Don’t say ’tism.”

“And maybe the social cues — could not recognize,” Mongeau said.

After teaching the group how to pour and drink wine like a pro, Cynthia handed a bottle to Mongeau’s friend, Paige, to try it out for herself, who instead made a joke about pouring the wine on her arm and taking it like a body shot.

Mongeau says Cynthia responded to this with “maybe only civilized people should have a drink.”

At this point in the story, Mongeau again calls the guide a “c-nt,” while Schofield describes her as a “whor*.”

Next, Mongeau says she was so angry that she had to get up from the table while crying, and one of her friends came over to calm her down, telling her that this is clearly Cynthia’s life passion and that the guide had told him that she felt “so bad” that Mongeau wasn’t enjoying herself on the tour.

Somewhat appeased, Mongeau comes back to the table, where Cynthia is educating the group — on “something that no one gives absolute flying f— about” — according to Mongeau, who says she took her phone out to read a message and was met with an “I’ll wait” response from the tour guide, a moment Mongeau likens to being a child in a teacher’s class.

A little while later, Mongeau receives word that her car service was canceled.

“So now we are stranded at this vineyard, in this town with 300 people,” Mongeau said. “I put on my big glasses, and I’m just crying under them, and I’m just wiping, and I’m just trying not to let anyone know that I am sobbing. I am so sad.”

Mongeau says Cynthia, hearing that their ride was canceled, offered to let them use the vineyard’s car service — the first thing Cynthia’s done all day, Mongeau says, that she hasn’t “absolutely wanted to curb-stomp you for.”

After Cynthia confirmed the car service for them, Mongeau says her friends decided that they wanted to eat lunch first and leave afterward.

Mongeau says Cynthia then began “screaming” at her that she said she wanted to cancel, and Mongeau was shouting back that she did and still does.

Mongeau says she then picked up a bottle of wine, poured her glass as full as she could, chugged it and walked away.

Cynthia continued to educate her tour guests while Mongeau ignored her until the vineyard car service arrived. Mongeau’s group got in the car, and, Mongeau says, Cynthia unexpectedly joined them in the car for the ride back to Paris.

The ride back, per Mongeau’s account, was awkward, with Cynthia shaming the group for drinking a bottle of wine they had purchased at the vineyard in the car while it was warm. Mongeau also said Cynthia told one of Mongeau’s friends that she hates influencers like Mongeau and her friends

When they arrived back at their Airbnb, Mongeau said Cynthia asked where they were going after Paris, and when Mongeau replied that they were headed to Positano, Italy, she said, “Good luck with all the stairs there,” further angering Mongeau.

Cynthia then, Mongeau claims, followed them into their Airbnb to use their restroom, and then departed after bidding farewell to everybody except for Mongeau. An hour later, Mongeau says, Cynthia sent a Whatsapp message to one of her friends, again saying to wish Mongeau “good luck with the stairs in Positano.”

A few days later, when the group is in Italy, Mongeau says Cynthia sent one last message to her friend: “They may love her in America, but girls like her are nothing to us here.”

At the conclusion of the story, Mongeau expressed her regrets over not physically fighting the tour guide, a sentiment Schofield called “so valid,” adding Mongeau “should have beat her ass; I don’t care how old she is.”

Schofield concluded by saying she “kind of” wants Cynthia dead — “no offense.” Mongeau agreed, saying: “No, I literally, I absolutely want her dead — at the hands of me.”

Tana Mongeau Fans Harassment of the Wine Tour Guide

The YouTuber’s use of the tour guide’s name and cellar name led to her rabid fanbase figuring out the identity of the tour guide and harassing her online, pretending they had been on Cynthia’s tour and leaving negative reviews about her business. One recent Google Review left after Mongeau’s YouTube video went live described Cynthia as “arrogant” and “demeaning.”

“Cynthia is the worst tour guide and should not talk about guest that come in to tour,” read another recent review, while a third reviewer wrote: “Anybody planning on visiting here, please avoid having Cynthia as your guide at all costs. The way she speaks about people as well as to their faces is disgusting. Nobody with this type of attitude should have any job requiring you to interact with people. Something needs to be done about her employment here.”

All of those reviews and more gave the guide one star out of five.

Tana Mongeau Faces Backlash From Fans

On Reddit, there is a community devoted to the podcast, r/canceledpod. Oftentimes, when internet celebrities find themselves enveloped in controversy, their fans starkly defend them. However, a majority of commenters in the community appeared staunchly opposed to Mongeau’s actions.

Here are some of the comments written in defense of Cynthia and in opposition of Mongeau, expressing how badly they felt for a tour guide whom many perceived to have been merely trying to do her job. This sentiment — that Cynthia was only doing her job — is exacerbated by Mongeau’s own admission that the tour attendees outside of her group (whom she describes as “like 45” who had come prepared for a walking tour) were interested in Cynthia’s education.

• “The Cynthia story was not it. I don’t know what Tana (and her friends) thought a wine-tasting tour was all about, but it’s not the employee’s fault that you got it all wrong and decided to party until 6 the night before…”
• “The part where she’s like ‘we paid you!’ Is giving nightmare celebrity. I can only imagine what Cynthia went home and told her friends about this hellish group of assholes. Imagine being in France, experiencing their pride and joy tourist attraction, and crying out of disappointment the entire time. Gross.”
• “sounded like tana was in a bad mood and took it out on someone who was just trying to do her job.”
• “I did not like the Cynthia story at all 😭 tana acting like that at her big age is embarrassing.”
• “This is horrible. i feel badly for cynthia. tana uses fake names for influencers (those who ALREADY have public profiles/lives) but uses a real name for someone who is private? i just don’t understand.”
• “Tana is going in on this woman, but it looks like she was just doing the tour that she’s trained to do and that Tana’s group booked on to. In that context, cynthia’s reactions make a lot more sense and it’s really horrid that she’s getting all of these reviews left about her.”
• I’m not sure why she is ridiculing Cynthia, who is so clearly just trying to do her JOB. Tana showed up on HER tour. Cynthia doesn’t know the backstory and is trying her best to literally perform what she is paid to do, educate, and take people on a tour.
  To any sober person who signs up voluntarily for a wine tour, walking and learning is most likely part of the gig. Tana cannot get upset because this is totally a fail on her end. Especially at the end when she’s pushing Cynthia to her breaking point. Of course Cynthias going to say something and I don’t blame her. How could you not see this platinum blonde LA influencer as entitled based on what happened?”

Some commenters, however, stuck up for Mongeau, voicing opinions along the line of “the customer is always right.”

“You shouldn’t be verbally harassed for wanting to leave,” one user wrote in defense of Mongeau. “I was a bratty teenager on plenty of tours and nobody ever treated me that way. I’m sure, Tana, to someone like, Cynthia, was being disrespectful from the get go with the headphones and stuff, but her wanting to leave because she didn’t realize what she was getting into shouldn’t be a crime. If she doesn’t wanna walk, you can’t verbally harass her into wanting to. She’s a paying customer, if she wants to put in headphones to make herself feel better than she can. It may be considered disrespectful from another persons perspective, but that’s no reason to invade someone’s space and say horrible things to them.”

According to a screenshot posted on Reddit, one commenter on Mongeau’s YouTube video wrote. “How dare a wine tasting lady discuss wine on a tour maybe it’s Cynthia’s fault u stayed up all night knowing u had to be there at 8am how dare them.”

Mongeau responded to this comment: “no i think it’s more so the rude comments, signing us up for a different tour without consent when we paid for a specific tour, her texts after, and also asking us the type of tour we’d like to go on and negating our PAID choice completely whilst being upset that we didn’t want to do when she wanted to do, and getting in a car we paid for just to blatantly disrespect us/enter our airbnb etc. it was tens of thousands of dollars. unprofessionalism at its finest.”

“Tens of thousands of dollars” is another detail that appears to be embellished. According to the website, the full price for the tour is €400 ($436).

YouTube personality Adam McIntyre uploaded a YouTube video about the story last week titled “tana mongeau doxxed a woman,” which has amassed more than 80,000 views.

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