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.
