The road to Flavortown hasn't exactly been a pleasure cruise.
The career of Food Network's most beloved, spiky-haired star has been riddled with scandals,
lawsuits, and even fist-fights.
Hold onto your pinky rings…this is the shady side of Guy Fieri.
"Hey I'm Guy Fieri and you know what I need?
I need you ridin shotgun.
I'm on my way to Flavortown"
Just being a dude?
In late 2013, Fieri reportedly got into a violent and expletive-riddled fight with his
hair stylist, Ariel Ramirez, which was all caught on tape by TMZ.
The bizarre video allegedly showed Fieri fending off Ramirez with his legs as Ramirez fired
off f-bombs at Fieri, outside of their SUV.
According to the report, the combatants had just landed in San Francisco, and "had […] been
drinking on the flight."
"I'm the mayor of Flavortown, I'm like, ok?"
A source for TMZ said the brawl was simply a case of "dudes being dudes."
"And there's more"
Friday's for pay
Back in 2008, Fieri starred in commercials for T.G.I.
Friday's.
But it turns out he wasn't exactly the restaurant's most frequent customer.
"This is where it gets gnarly"
When cornered by TMZ cameras, he admitted that it was all just business, saying,
"I'm a Food Network chef, man!
I just do commercials for Friday's.
You know how it works!
[…] It's a good gig, man."
We think he could have at least admitted that Friday's chicken strips might be worth the
trip.
Bailing on Johnny Garlic's
Fieri found himself in a legal dispute with longtime business partner Steve Gruber over
Fieri's request to close their Johnny Garlic's restaurants, which the two founded in the
mid-'90s.
According to The Press Democrat, Fieri filed paperwork to dissolve the chain in 2015, but
Gruber, instead, wanted to buy Fieri out.
"This should be illegal"
When the partners couldn't agree on a price for Fieri's stock, Gruber filed a lawsuit
asking a court to figure it out.
But Fieri apparently wanted to make a clean break.
A spokesperson told the news outlet,
"After more than 20 successful years as a partner in Johnny Garlic's Inc., Guy Fieri
has chosen to separate from the company and its restaurants."
The former business partners settled over undisclosed terms in 2016.
A feud that crossed the line
Over the years, the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain repeatedly had it out for Fieri.
In June 2016, Bourdain told Adweek that Fieri was…
"[…] worthy of a solid and maybe relentless mocking."
"Please get me a t-shirt that says that"
Bourdain even claimed in 2012 that he had recently laughed hardest at:
"Guy Fieri's tweet that he was on his way to a Nickelback concert.
That was like the funniest f---ing thing.
I was, of course of course!"
Fieri only ever mildly defended himself, admonishing Bourdain for talking trash behind his back.
He told GQ,
"The average person doesn't behave that way.
[…] You have nothing else to f---ing worry about than if I have bleached hair or not?"
But there may have been a darker side to the supposed feud.
After all, it was Fieri who really took the gloves off during a 2012 roast of Bourdain
in which he used Bourdain's history of drug abuse as a punchline.
Though Bourdain had been open about his past, perhaps he preferred to be the only one to
mention it.
His neighbors aren't fans
In a 2015 GQ profile, Fieri discussed plans to create a wine-tasting room to accompany
the winery he'd opened on his property.
"Is anybody at home tripping out about this"
The only hitch?
The 100-plus neighbors who came out to protest his plans.
Chief among their complaints?
Guy doesn't just wear loud shirts, he is loud.
Statements Fieri's neighbors entered into the public record included:
"[Fieri] has thought of everything except a place for his noise."
"A race car was fired up next door by [Fieri's] staff with no warning.
The noise very nearly seriously injured one of my show horses.
This has happened a couple of times."
And,
"My family lived across the street from [Fieri's] residence.
Guests would be loud, leave trash, and trample landscaping.
All we could do was sell and move."
According to GQ, Fieri's tasting-room proposal was swiftly rejected.
Fieri can be a really good Guy
After the devastation of the Santa Rosa wildfires in 2017, Fieri went to work.
The chef lives in Sonoma County which felt the brunt of the devastation.
Partnering with the Salvation Army, Fieri mobilized a crew to feed neighbors displaced
by the flames.
He told KQED,
"This isn't a PR stunt.
You don't see my banners up.
I'm not promoting anything.
I'm just here cooking.
This is feeding people.
People need help, and I'm here to help.
That's it."
"And there's nothing greater than feeding somebody, and helping somebody, and getting
their response"
He also cooked for displaced residents after the California wildfires of 2018.
But those weren't the only times he dabbled in philanthropy.
Comedian Shane Torres even claimed in his stand-up act that Fieri's a pretty decent
guy.
"He pays more than minimum wage.
He gives health benefits.
He has a non-profit where he gives pretzel-making machines to inner city schools so they can
fundraise"
But that wasn't it.
The goodness of Fieri apparently knows no bounds.
He continued,
"he has worked with Special Olympics athletes, and on top of all of that, he officiated a
gay wedding."
Even if only some of those claims check out, surely that gives Fieri a pass on still rocking
bleach blonde spikes and bowling shirts 15 years too late, right?
"That's it!
I'm out"