Gordon Ramsay and controversy go hand in hand.
In fact, there's rarely been a dull moment from the perpetually hot-headed star of series
like Kitchen Nightmares, MasterChef, Hotel Hell, and many more.
Here are some of the many, many scandals that have plagued Ramsay over the years.
Long before Ramsay was a household name, he was already getting in trouble for the bad-boy
antics that would become his hallmark.
In 2004, an old incident resurfaced that spelled embarrassment for the celebrity chef.
As the Daily Mail reported, Ramsay had been arrested back in 1993, along with two other
male chefs that were caught in, quote, "various stages of undress" in a tube station bathroom.
While the three men were cited for "gross indecency," a spokesperson for Ramsay insisted
the incident was just a little booze-fueled tomfoolery.
The spokesperson described the boozy hijinks of men who'd had a bit too much to drink and
were "horsing around" in a public bathroom after a celebratory evening.
After talking with Ramsay about what transpired all those years ago, the spokesperson explained,
"One of them was having a pee in the sink.
The other one was running around with his trousers around his ankles and Gordon was
actually just at a urinal with his head slumped on the wall."
The spokesperson emphasized that there was no court appearance, dismissing the whole
thing as "a complete boys' lark."
In 2008, Ramsay was accused of infidelity by a self-described "professional mistress"
named Sarah Symonds who claimed she'd had a seven-year affair with the married chef,
according to HuffPost.
Sharing details of the alleged affair with the now-defunct News of the World, she claimed
to be Ramsay's "'soulmate," and described him as:
"Someone who lives on the edge.
He loves the risk and needs that adrenaline rush."
Ramsay, however, denied everything, even joking about the allegations while filming a cooking
show — with his mother in the audience.
He declared,
"What a week I've had.
My mum is in here tonight so I'm on my best behavior, ooh la la.
Oh f--- it.
I didn't do it, mum, I love you."
In an interview with Men's Journal, Ramsay restated his innocence and explained why he
would never cheat on his wife, jokingly suggesting that she would, well, dismember him.
In 2009, several of Ramsay's London gastropubs were found to be serving previously prepared
frozen food to oblivious customers.
According to The Guardian, the revelation came about thanks to a sting orchestrated
by The Sun tabloid.
The eateries were reportedly supplied with boil-in-the-bag meals supplied by the Ramsay-owned
kitchen facility GR Logistics.
When heated and served, the food was sold to unsuspecting diners at a markup of around
500 percent.
As The Scotsman reported, a spokesperson admitted,
"[GR Logistics did] prepare components of dishes devised and produced to the highest
Ramsay standards.
[...] [These menu items] are sealed and transported daily in refrigerated vans and all menu dishes
are then cooked in the individual kitchens.
[This allowed the gastropubs] to control the consistency and the quality of the food served."
A food editor for Food and Travel Magazine didn't buy that explanation, telling The Scotsman,
"[This is another example of] an ever-increasing discrepancy between what Ramsay says and what
Ramsay does.
I think he's going to lose the trust of his adoring public."
Back in 2015, Ramsay purchased an oceanfront five-bedroom home in the English seaside resort
town of Cornwall.
He then demolished the property and began construction on two new structures — a mansion
and a garden house — and that's when problems began.
According to the Daily Mail, the new homes boast modern, box-like architecture that Ramsay's
ticked-off neighbors have described as "a monstrosity" resembling, quote, "a stack of
containers."
Ramsay's next-door neighbor told Cornwall Live that the chef made no effort to meet
with neighbors about their concerns, adding,
"Considering the scale of the development and the detrimental effect it will have on
the enjoyment of our property and others it is disappointing and demonstrates a lack of
consideration for local residents' concerns."
In 2019, Ramsay opened London's Lucky Cat, described in its press materials as:
"An authentic Asian eating house inspired by the drinking dens of 1930s Tokyo and the
Far East."
Food critic Angela Hui, however, took issue with just how "authentic" it was, slamming
the eatery in her review as, quote, "a real life Ramsay kitchen nightmare."
After Hui's scathing critique called out Ramsay for cultural appropriation, Ramsay issued
a statement on Instagram.
Acknowledging that critics shouldn't be prevented from providing their honest opinions, Ramsay
insisted Hui was biased against him and his restaurants, pointing to the harsh social
media posts she had written about him.
Ramsay concluded by stating,
"[If a reviewer is] going to be critical, then I expect them to be professional and
have some integrity."
Hui wasn't the only one to criticize Lucky Cat.
Chef and restaurateur George Chen tweeted,
"Every chef has a right to interpret another cuisine but the integrity and culture [...] needs
to be studied in depth and not WHITEwashed for marketing purposes!"
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares was a big hit on U.S. television, but created a legal nightmare
for Ramsay when one of the restaurant owners featured on the show took him to court.
Martin Hyde was manager of Manhattan eatery Dillons, until being fired during an episode
in which Ramsay called him out for such infractions as having rat droppings on the floor and rotten
hamburger meat in the fridge.
According to The Guardian, Hyde launched a lawsuit, alleging,
"Unknown to the viewing audience, some or all of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares shows are
fake and the so-called 'problems uncovered and solved' by Ramsay are, for the most part,
created by Ramsay and his staff for the purpose of making it appear that Ramsay is improving
the restaurant."
A judge subsequently tossed the lawsuit, and ordered both sides to enter arbitration.
In an interview with TV Week, Ramsay denied Hyde's allegations, saying,
"I would never-ever-ever dream of setting anything up.
I want to sleep at night."
Ramsay nearly caused an international incident when, as The Guardian reported, he publicly
insulted an Australian broadcaster named Tracy Grimshaw.
During a 2009 live appearance in Melbourne, Australia, Ramsay displayed a graphic photoshopped
image of a woman with a pig's face, declaring,
"That's Tracy Grimshaw.
I had an interview with her yesterday, holy crap.
She needs to see Simon Cowell's Botox doctor."
He also claimed she was a lesbian — and Grimshaw responded on her show.
"Obviously Gordon thinks that any woman who doesn't find him attractive must be gay.
For the record, I don't.
And I'm not."
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd even weighed in, describing Ramsay's remarks as:
"A new form of low life.
I just think that's off and offensive.
Good on Tracy Grimshaw for coming out and giving him a left upper cut."
"I'm not going to sit meekly and let some arrogant narcissist bully me."
Ramsay's spokesperson later issued an apology, admitting Ramsay's intention had been "to
make a joke," adding,
"With hindsight he realizes that his comments were inappropriate and offensive."
While Ramsay's frequent profanity is bleeped out on American television, that's not the
case in Australia, where his colorful language remains uncensored.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, this captured the attention of Australian legislators
in 2008 when a single episode of Kitchen Nightmares was said to have contained an impressive 80
F-bombs.
After numerous viewer complaints, an Australian senator launched an inquiry into the nation's
broadcasting standards, calling for more stringent regulations.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Australia's TV broadcasters are self-regulated and follow
a code of conduct registered with Australia's Communications and Media Authority.
Ramsay responded to the controversy, telling critics of his show that if they are that
upset by his swearing, they're free to change channels and watch something else.
In an interview with Nine Network, he discussed his tendency to use profanity, saying,
"Turn over [the TV channel]; isn't it easier?
I don't mean to swear, it's just the muppets I have to work with sometimes.
It's high pressure, high energy and, more importantly, real — that's how we keep it
every day."
"That's just a polite f--- off really, that's all."
Ramsay was just 5 when he and his family moved to Stratford-upon-Avon in England, but he
was born in Scotland.
The chef may consider himself English, given that he's lived there for the vast majority
of his life, but Scotland claims him as their own.
This explains why a 2011 episode of Kitchen Nightmares cooked up controversy in the land
of his birth, when Ramsay was seen chatting with the England-born owner of a failing Florida
restaurant.
Ramsay compares himself to the restaurant owner, stating,
"We're both English, and we both studied in Paris, but there's one thing we don't share
in common.
I care about my customers.
He clearly doesn't give a f---."
The first part of the statement raised some serious Scottish ire.
According to the Daily Record, one Scottish politician became so riled he demanded Ramsay
apologize to the people of Scotland, saying,
"If he'd said this a few hundred years ago, he'd have had his head chopped off.
[Ramsay] should always remember where he came from, even if some of his American TV audience
don't know the difference between Scottish, English and Chinese."
Chef Marcus Samuelsson is no fan of Ramsay, and in his 2012 memoir he described a conversation
with the Hell's Kitchen star that allegedly ended with some racist remarks.
In his book Yes Chef, Samuelsson writes of answering the phone and hearing the voice
of a furious Ramsay, who was apparently unhappy that Samuelsson didn't name him when asked
which chefs he admired.
After about five minutes of yelling, Ramsay allegedly ended his rant with these words:
"I'm going to make sure you have a f---ing miserable time here.
This is my city, you hear?
Good luck, you f---ing black bastard."
Ramsay denied Samuelsson's claim, and issued a response through a spokesperson, saying,
"We're shocked by these completely false and extremely offensive accusations.
We can only think these malicious comments have been made in order to garner publicity
for Mr. Samuelsson's book.
[We will] pursue such actions as we deem appropriate against Mr. Samuelsson and his publishers."
Samuelsson, however, didn't back down, saying in a statement from his publisher, Random
House,
"Mr. Samuelsson stands by his statement regarding Mr. Ramsay and has no further comment."
Anthony Bourdain was a true television trailblazer with such series as No Reservations and Parts
Unknown, which found the adventurous celebrity chef exploring foreign cultures and sampling
exotic cuisine in far-flung locations around the planet.
In 2019, just a few months after Bourdain's tragic 2018 death, the National Geographic
channel announced a new series with a near-identical premise starring Ramsay.
As soon as Ramsay: Uncharted was announced, Bourdain's fans accused Ramsay of ripping
off the concept.
Numerous social media users took to Twitter to slam Ramsey, including celebrity chef Eddie
Huang, who tweeted,
"The last thing the food world needs right now is Ramsay going to foreign countries 'showing
locals he can cook their cuisines better than they can.'"
Ramsay responded to the backlash during an appearance at the Television Critics Association
press tour, according to ET Canada.
He said,
"We took a lot of flak on the announcements with Nat Geo about rivalling Tony Bourdain,
and that was incorrect.
Judge the program, and the integrity, and the team that's gone to hell and back to make
this work."
A video of a 2010 Tonight Show appearance resurfaced in 2019 and led to some serious
backlash for Ramsay due to the outrageous behavior and sexist attitude the celebrity
chef displayed toward Modern Family star Sofia Vergara.
"I never scream like that in real life, it was all acting… only in the bedroom?"
At one point, Vergara showed off photos from a recent vacation, including one of her eating
pizza.
"You seem like you're enjoying that.
You had a whole wedge in your mouth at one time?"
Things got worse when Ramsay sampled her favorite treat from her native Colombia, which he described
as "s--- fudge" before spitting it out and telling her to, quote, "take it back to f---ing
Colombia."
He also mocked the name of Vergara's son, Manolo, telling her it, quote, "sounds like
a paint."
"Okay this is my interview."
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