Slutty Vegan Founder Files For Bankruptcy & Joins 'Real Housewives'

There’s good news and bad news for Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole. The entrepreneur just filed for bankruptcy after amassing more than a million dollars in debt in her troubled business.

The announcement, made this week, says that she owes the U.S. Small Business Administration $1.2 million. The filing states that she also owes $192,000 to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

However, in the same filing, she listed the value of her assets as $3.2 million, including her homes, cars, jewelry and other personal items. She said her monthly expenses were $41,700.

The filing represents a big fall for Cole, who founded Slutty Vegan in 2018 as a food truck based in Atlanta. The company boasted about its tasty vegan options that included meatless burgers with fun names, including Fussy Hussy, One Night Stand, and Sloppy Toppy.

Slutty Vegan became a sensation, opening 14 stores around Georgia and in Harlem, Brooklyn and Birmingham, earning a valuation of $100M. But by 2025, signs that the company was in trouble emerged. Cole temporarily gave up ownership while working through the details of a state-run alternative to bankruptcy, before getting the company back.

She told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution in 2024 that Slutty Vegan was $20M in debt. More lawsuits followed, and Cole announced she would franchise the company. She opened a new store, Voagies, featuring vegan hoagies.

But there looks to be a happy ending for Cole, at least financially. She’s a new cast member of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, along with singer K. Michelle. That should mean a six-figure check for Cole, who’ll make her debut in Season 17 on April 5.

In her filing she she noted that she anticipated an increase in income, citing, “more growth and opportunities.”

Cole joked about the bankruptcy on social media, posting a video of her leaving what looks like a mansion with suitcases and her dog, covered up in a coat and sunglasses.

Cole’s husband, Derrick Hayes, is the founder of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, also headquartered in Atlanta.

See social media’s reaction to Cole’s business going belly up below.