I initially had no plans to see "Flamin' Hot," the film directed by Eva Longoria that tells the story of real-life-janitor-turned-Frito-Lay-executive Richard Montañez.
For at least 20 years, the Mexican American has told anyone within hearing distance that he invented the wildly popular Cheetos variety of the same name. The self-proclaimed "godfather of Latino marketing" taught corporate America that it could make billions of dollars off his community — and Latinos willingly forked over that cash because they finally felt seen.
He repeated this origin story to the point that the media — myself included — cited it without question. When my colleague Sam Dean published an article in 2021 proving that Montañez was a fibber at best and a fabulist at worst, Hot Cheetos lovers accused the Los Angeles Times of trying to take down their guy — about the only time you'll see leftists defend a Fortune 500 bigwig.
