The Food Network's path to success hasn't always been easy. In fact,
the foodie favorite has weathered quite a few scandals, and some of those shocking
situations have rocked the network — and its devoted fans — to their very core.
Ina Garten, host of Food Network's Barefoot Contessa, revealed her not-so-nice side in
2011 when Enzo Pereda, a 6-year-old battling leukemia, requested to meet her through the
Make-A-Wish program — and she denied him due to her busy schedule. Twice.
His family wrote about the incident in a now-defunct blog,
which then got the media's attention.
Garten did damage control, inviting Pereda onto her show. But the Peredas passed on Garten's
offer, saying that young Enzo would instead fulfill his wish of swimming with dolphins.
Chef Mario Batali came under fire in 2010 when a class action lawsuit was
filed against him on behalf of some of his employees. The suit represented 117 people
who worked for Batali in his restaurants, alleging that Batali illegally skimmed tips,
keeping four to five percent of the money that should have gone to his servers.
Batali finally agreed to a settlement in 2012 — paying $5.25 million to the
employees named in the lawsuit, and any of the employees who lost tips as
a result of Batali's tip-skimming from July 2004 to February 2012.
But Batali was back in the news in 2017, when four women accused him of inappropriate touching.
Batali didn't deny the allegations, which spanned 20 years. He said, in a statement to Eater,
"That behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility and
am deeply sorry for any pain, humiliation or discomfort I have caused to my peers,
employees, customers, friends and family."
Batali watered-down a second apology in an emailed newsletter where he added a link to his Pizza
Dough Cinnamon Rolls — which are now known online by a few other names, including "Apology Rolls."
Either way, Batali's career took a nosedive. ABC fired him as co-host of The Chew,
and Food Network announced that they would no longer be producing
his show Molto Mario which they had previously planned to revive.
In 2009, chef Anne Burrell was sued for discriminating against female employees at
Centro Vinoteca, a West Village restaurant where she was formerly a chef. According to the lawsuit,
Burrell was accused of calling the all-female plaintiffs a string of derogatory names.
She also reportedly made remarks about their cleavage,
and is said to have openly commented on their private lives. When the women complained,
Burrell allegedly had them fired. Although an undisclosed settlement was reached in that case,
Burrell has not commented on the validity of the accusations.
Chef Robert Irvine shot to fame as host of Food Network's Dinner Impossible. His
resume boasted a British knighthood, cooking for four former US presidents,
and a friendship with Prince Charles — as well as a hand in creating his
wedding cake when he wed Princess Diana. But it all turned out to be too good to be true,
when it was revealed in 2008 that Irvine's resume was substantially padded.
Irvine left Dinner Impossible in disgrace. The show continued to air with Michael Symon
at the helm, but after Irvine apologized, Food Network eventually welcomed him back.
Chef Nigella Lawson's good girl image took a hit in 2013, when the multi-millionaire and her
ex-husband, Charles Saatchi, accused their former assistants, Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo,
of defrauding the couple of hundreds of thousands of pounds. The Grillo sisters
contested the charges, claiming that they were allowed to spend the couple's funds by Lawson,
on the condition that they didn't reveal her drug use to Saatchi.
The Grillos claimed that Lawson used cocaine daily,
and had abused prescription drugs for years. During the trial, Lawson told the court,
"I have never been a drug addict. I've never been
a habitual user. There are two times in my life when I have used cocaine."
The Grillo sisters were acquitted of the charges.
Guy Fieri came under scrutiny in 2011 when some incredibly offensive remarks of his
were revealed to the press. According to David Page, the creator and former producer of Diners,
Drive-Ins, and Dives, one of the restaurants they visited for the show was run by two men who Fieri
had determined "were life partners." Page said Fieri called him and said,
"You can't send me to talk to gay people without warning! Those people weird me out!"
Page added that from that time forward, producers were told to make a note if they picked up any,
quote, "indications of homosexuality" during the pre-interview process.
On the second season of The Pioneer Woman, the show's star, Ree Drummond,
made a racist joke that offended many of her viewers. On the show,
Drummond made Asian hot wings for her family and friends, which were met with disgusted faces.
"Where's the real ones?"
"What do you mean?" "I don't trust em"
Drummond then joked...
"I'm just kidding guys, I wouldn't do that to you."
...And replaced the hot wings with American Buffalo wings.
The blog Thick Dumpling Skin called Drummond and Food Network out, writing,
"Why must we watch non-Asian cooks [...] show us how to make our own dishes? And how come,
when they do, we have to watch as their entire
family mocks it — like in this episode of The Pioneer Woman?"
Eater called for Food Network to stop airing the episode in 2017.
Scandal broke out in 2013 after Paula Deen admitted to having used the "N word." The racist
language came to light as part of a lawsuit filed by a former employee of a restaurant
co-owned by Deen. As her empire quickly turned to dust, she pleaded with fans and coworkers:
"I beg for your forgiveness"
But Deen's apology might have been more convincing if her
company hadn't released a statement claiming that Deen used the slur in
a "different era," attempting to justify Deen's language, saying,
"She was born 60 years ago when America's South had schools that were segregated,
different bathrooms, different restaurants and Americans rode
in different parts of the bus. This is not today."
There's always a chance something jaw-dropping is going to happen during live competition shows,
and Iron Chef Showdown is no different. In 2017,
long-time Food Network star Bobby Flay took off his chef's coat mid-competition during a live
taping. Underneath was a shirt that said, "THIS IS MY LAST IRON CHEF BATTLE EVER".
Pretty stunning stuff, and Vanity Fair says the producers immediately went into damage control
mode. Not only did no one know he was going to do it, but it was going to be a nightmare to
edit it out down the road. When they told Flay, he answered with, "I know. That's the point."
Flay later told People the whole thing was a joke, and he was just having some fun on the
last episode of the season. He added he would be happy to return to Iron Chef and wasn't leaving
Food Network, but by 2018 it was clear it wasn't a joke after all. People says he told Michael
Symon his grueling schedule — which included six to eight battles a week — was too much.
"… it crushes me, because it's 60 minutes of pure energy, creativity, and execution. And so at some
point I was like, 'I've been doing this for a long time and I want to go out on a high note."
He also added while the Food Network didn't appreciate how he handed in his resignation,
and ultimately didn't air the stunt, he stood by his belief it was just good TV.
Geoffrey Zakarian, a staple on The Food Network,
was sent into bankruptcy in 2011, after a shocking class action lawsuit was filed
against him by his former employees at his now-shuttered restaurant, Country.
According to the lawsuit, Zakarian shorted his staff on overtime pay, falsified pay records,
and docked their paychecks for meals the staff never received. The former employees
asked for $1 million in damages and an extra $250,000 in penalties. Adding insult to injury,
The New York Times reported Zakarian's former business partners stood on the side of the
workers, filing court documents claiming Zakarian had, indeed, violated labor laws.
While his partners also claimed shady business practices (including charging
personal expenses on the restaurant's credit) were to blame for the restaurant closing,
Zakarian denied all of the allegations and insisted he had done nothing wrong. At the
same time, his publicist said he just didn't have the money to fight the accusations,
and was forced into bankruptcy by the suit.
In 2014, Michael Symon participated in a beach volleyball tournament held
to benefit the Armed Forces Foundation. Celebrity chefs teamed up with each other
and with some Sports Illustrated swimsuit models for the event, held as part of the
South Beach Wine and Food Festival. How could such a noble cause create a scandal?
Exactly how you'd expect. Symon posted pictures from the event that included
one with Chrissy Teigen sitting on his lap, and fans were outraged on behalf of his wife.
With some questioning just how faithful he was, others rallied to support him. The single photo
got hundreds and hundreds of Facebook comments, mostly from people arguing over the relationship
between people they'd never met. Symon brushed off the controversy after responding with:
"wow some ppl have 2 chill a bit…in [South Beach] for wine & food
event…doing a photo shoot…liz is WITH me..& chrissy is a friend."
Paula Deen's food has always been more delicious than healthy,
and when she announced she had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes,
not many people were surprised. Problems started after she admitted her official 2012 announcement
came three years after her diagnosis, and when they asked her about the delay, she responded,
"I wanted to wait until I had something to bring to the table."
What she was bringing to the table was a deal with Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company
behind a non-insulin injectable diabetes medication. Deen and her sons were the
new faces of a major drug campaign, and that just added to the scandal.
ABC News says many condemned her for hiding her diagnosis for as long as she did, while continuing
to promote an unhealthy cooking style that's heavy on the butter, sugar, and portion sizes. Food
Network was quick to distance themselves and say they knew nothing about the diagnosis, while other
celebrities were just as quick to either condemn or support the hypocrisy, the shadiness of the
deal, or both. Anthony Bourdain summed the whole thing up pretty well when he tweeted, "Thinking
of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later."
Giada De Laurentiis announced she and husband Todd Thompson were splitting after 11 years of
marriage in a 2014 announcement that came just after he officially filed for divorce
due to irreconcilable differences. The rumor mill started churning,
and it wasn't long before the chef was forced to make public claims about a
private matter. De Laurentiis said repeatedly that she had never cheated on her husband,
but accusations just kept coming about flings with Matt Lauer, John Mayer, and Bobby Flay.
Rumors about a fling with Mayer started way back in 2010 (and she denied them then,
too). But, when her divorce almost coincided with Flay's divorce from Stephanie March,
tabloids thought that was a smoking gun. She repeatedly denied it all, saying,
"Well, we're very good friends… but I don't think that's ever
going to happen because I'm smarter than that."
After the dust settled, Meredith Vieira asked her how she had gotten through it,
and she had some inspiring words.
"I started to realize, like, I know why I fell in love with cooking. Cause it makes me happy,
and because it’s the place where I feel strongest, the most empowered,
the most creative. It's where I can stand on my own two feet"
When Sandra Lee made a Kwanzaa Cake in 2009, AV Club described it as "a
pile of ridiculousness slathered in despair and sprinkled with nonsense nuggets." And
that's not even the cruelest comment. The ever-honest Anthony Bourdain said,
"The most terrifying thing I've ever seen is [Lee] making a Kwanzaa cake. Watch that clip
and tell me your eyeballs don't burst into flames. It's a war crime on television."
So, what was it? An angel food cake topped with store-bought frosting, pumpkin seeds,
and corn nuts she kept calling acorns, filled with apple pie filling. It was terrible,
but terrible food isn't a scandal. What was scandalous is the offense
she caused by declaring her train wreck of a dessert a celebration of Kwanzaa.
With the help of Queens College professor and cookbook author Jessica Harris,
Salon confirmed it was as non-authentic as you can probably guess. No punches were pulled either,
as Harris condemned the entire project as being made by someone who didn't have "the first clue."
Former Iron Chef contestant Graham Elliot stirred up some controversy when he was
accused of mishandling tips by his employees. Thirteen former waiters at his restaurant,
the self-named Graham Elliot in Chicago,
eventually joined in the lawsuit originally filed by former waiter Gregory Curtis in 2012.
According to Curtis, the wait staff was forced to pool their tips, which would then be redistributed
among the all the staff. Curtis said food runners and cooks should not have been entitled to a share
of the tips, as federal law says tip pooling is only allowed if the money is distributed
among people who typically receive tips. That's a category that does not include food runners and
cooks, so wait staff sued for the wages that were lost as the result of the tip pooling.
Elliot didn't contest the claims,
and ended up settling with his former waiters for an undisclosed amount.
Mexican chef Marcela Valladolid has appeared on several Food Channel shows including her
own Mexican Made Easy and a long-running stint on The Kitchen, while British celeb chef Paul
Hollywood is best-known as a judge of The Great British Bake Off. In 2013,
they collaborated on-screen, judging The American Baking Competition. They became
quite cozy off-screen as well, indulging in a brief fling that nevertheless had some serious
fallout. Hollywood's wife filed for divorce, and Vallodolid and her husband also divorced.
Vallodolid's TV show hosting jobs fizzled, and she's moved on in her personal life. Hollywood,
on the other hand, still has a thriving career,
judging Bake Off and hosting cooking shows for various TV networks including the Cooking Channel.
Rachael Ray has gone way beyond celebrity chef to one-woman powerhouse: TV host, author,
entrepreneur, and champion of all animals in need. In fact, she's so into doggos that she
created a very special food with her own beloved pooch in mind, and a portion of the profits are
donated to her own Rachael Ray Foundation, with the ultimate goal of helping animals in need.
Well, what about animals who have become ill from ingesting suspicious chemicals? Chemicals,
perhaps, found among the "natural" ingredients in Ray's "Nutrish" line of pet foods? A $5 million
lawsuit filed in 2018 alleges that Nutrish foods contain glyphosate, a herbicide used to
make weed-killers such as Roundup. Rachael Ray herself was not named in the lawsuit,
and claimed to be feeding Nutrish to her own dog despite the controversy. Petsmart,
one of the brand's biggest retailers, didn't drop Ray or her product line, but did issue a
statement that it would be closely monitoring the situation. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed,
but this issue, on top of other earlier complaints, poor reviews and even recalls of
Ray's pet food products, indicate that she might not be such an animal nutrition guru, after all.
To everyone who watched Down Home With the Neelys during its 11-season run on the Food Network,
Pat and Gina seemed like the perfect couple, living and working and cooking side-by-side.
But then, all of a sudden, game over. Marriage over, show over — even their
restaurants closed down. What could have caused this sudden, total Neely-pocalypse?
In a 2018 interview with People Magazine, Gina revealed that her 20-year marriage had
grown stale and that she'd actually planned to leave Pat before they were offered the
TV show. According to Gina, the pressure of having to fake a happy relationship when she
was just no longer feeling it finally caused her to crack. In 2014, she grabbed her bags
and headed out the door, and after that, only her lawyers did the talking with Pat.
"The crazy part about it was, I never wanted to do
that show. I never wanted to live my life quite out loud like that."
While the divorce was rough on Pat at first, he's since rebounded with a new wife and kids. Gina,
the reluctant TV star, has gone a different route, appearing in a reality dating show on the Bravo
network called To Rome For Love. Down Home With the Neelys, however, lives on in perpetuity,
thanks to the magic of reruns — even though we now know it was all a sack of lies.
While Jamie Oliver used to be the host of a show called The Naked Chef,
he never actually stripped down for the camera, so no scandal there. But more recently,
he's taken a massive marketing misstep that got quite a few people pretty upset with him:
he released a product called "punchy jerk rice," with its name and flavoring supposedly inspired
by traditional Jamaican cooking. Well, the problem with this product is threefold:
Oliver isn't Jamaican, the recipe he uses isn't really all that Jamaican either,
and actually, "jerk rice" isn't even a thing — jerk is a spice rub used to flavor meat.
Protests came from all over, including a Jamaican chef who said he taught Oliver
how to make authentic jerk chicken. British MP Dawn Butler, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants,
called Oliver's product an act of cultural appropriation. While Oliver tried to explain
away his misstep by saying his intent was just to pay homage to the flavor's inspiration,
many in the Jamaican community still think he's the real jerk.