While she's known as being a bubbly
on-camera personality and cook, Rachael Ray has been called a
homewrecker, a crack peddler, and so much more. Life behind the lights and
cameras has often been tragic for the TV chef. "Welcome and sit and relax. I love
firsts and this is the first show!" Rachael Ray is known for many things — high levels
of energy, widespread knowledge of cooking despite never having attended culinary school, and
tons of drive — but one of her most defining characteristics is her gravelly voice. Whether you
watched her long-running syndicated show or not, chances are that if you are familiar with Ray,
you are also familiar with her signature rasp. While Ray has sounded this way for
as long as she has been famous, cigarettes or any other voice-altering
substance are not to blame. In fact, Ray has struggled with her voice for her
entire life, and it was especially bad pre-puberty. Ray's voice box has continuously
been a problem for her, as she caught croup, an infection that affects the airway, when she
was growing up. Ray told People magazine in 2006, "I had a lot of croup as a kid so I don't have
the strongest vocal cords to begin with. I went to a voice doctor [who] taught me exercises for my
throat and to cut back a little on the caffeine." In 2008, Ray also had to go in for surgery
to remove a cyst on one of her vocal cords, but she was back to her bubbly, gravelly-voiced
self after a week of strict vocal rest. Ray moved to New York City in 1995, only one
year after new crime-fighting tactics were introduced. Within two years, she became
the victim of a violent mugging in the lobby of her own Queens apartment
building. She recounted to People, "This kid comes in behind me — next thing I
know he shoves my face up against the door, jams a gun into my back and says, 'Give me
your bag.' I flipped the top off the mace my dad had given me when I moved to New York
City, spun around and started screaming." The robber was deterred, only to return the
following week to beat Ray up in an alley. These incidents prompted her to flee
the city for upstate New York, saying, "Dude, I got mugged twice within one
week! Wouldn't you want to leave?" "She's like the most peaceful
person you could meet." The vast majority of the hate Rachael Ray has
received has come from the tabloid media or the public. Rarely has she faced
criticism from one of her peers, so it was a huge shocker when she was called out
by another big name in culinary broadcasting back in 2009. It all began when Ray signed on
to appear in advertisements for Dunkin', which seemed like a great idea since Ray
built her brand on fast and easy meals. The partnership may have fit Ray's brand,
but even she admitted to ABC News that it turned into a PR fiasco after Anthony
Bourdain called her "evil" and said she was basically "peddling crack to kids." The
late chef was by no means the only one to bash Ray's choice — some other critics were
outraged because they thought her scarf was a symbol for Islamic extremism — but Ray appeared
undaunted by the backlash. She told ABC News, "They came to me and they said, 'We want
to make healthier food for America. You drink a lot of coffee. You
grew up on Dunkin' Donuts.'" She also noted that Dunkin' provided
support for her charity, Yum-o, adding, "They've been very supportive of me. I
don't regret a thing. Not for a minute." Rachael Ray has had some legitimate
criticism thrown her way, but she has also had a few instances of unnecessary
hate. There was one particular rumor that was so ludicrous that it was almost humorous
— except the hate tossed Ray's way was real, and no one could blame her
for being upset about it. We are, of course, talking about
how Ray was reeled into the Jay-Z and Beyoncé cheating scandal due to
people on the Internet's collective stupidity. Her name is what got her
into trouble since it is strikingly similar to that of another Rachael, who
was accused of being Jay-Z's mistress. The other Rachael was designer Rachel Roy. Much
of people's belief that Roy was involved with Jay-Z stems from an Instagram post she made
about "good hair," which was interpreted as a reference to Beyoncé's famous "Becky with the
good hair" lyric. The Bey-hive went in on Roy, but some of Bey's less astute fans saw
"Rachel Roy" and immediately thought of Ray, despite the former being a fashion designer with no television connections. Ray then became
the target of rage, receiving tweets such as, "Never watching ur show again
Rachel u r a homewrecker." "What a difference a vowel makes."
"Yeah." "What a difference a vowel makes." Rachael Ray married John Cusimano — a
musician, actor, and lawyer — in 2005, and fans are quite familiar with him by
way of his frequent appearances on Ray's daytime show. Unfortunately, while the host
has never been accused of cheating herself, she has for years had to deal with reports of her
husband's indiscretions. Plus, she has faced a lot of judgment from the public for her husband's
actions, which have not even been proven true. Despite the unverified nature of the rumors,
Ray and Cusimano have continually had to defend their relationship. In a 2007 interview with
People, Ray confirmed she had heard about six women her husband allegedly cheated with but
made it clear she was no duped spouse, saying, "I've known where he is every
night since we've been married." "And we have talked every
day since the night we met." The couple also felt pushed to put
out an official denial in 2013 after tabloids alleged that Cusimano
was a regular at a New York City swingers club called Checkers,
with their publicist sharing, "This is yet another pack of
lies printed by the National Enquirer who have been targeting John and
Rachael for several years with no merit." Many people can identify with not seeing
eye-to-eye with a relative or even cutting them out of the picture when the relationship
becomes too toxic. In the case of Rachael Ray, it was a more distant relative who decided to call
her out in the media; her cousin, who was incensed over the death of her mother and armed with the
belief that Ray is to blame. The unfortunate death of Ray's aunt turned into a full-on war after
the TV personality and her husband skipped out on the funeral, and the tabloids jumped on
the chance to paint Ray in a negative light. Ray's aunt, Geraldine, died after accidentally
locking herself outside in freezing weather. This occurred in November 2013 when she was house
sitting for her sister, Ray's mother, Elsa, in chilly upstate New York. In an interview with
the National Enquirer, Ray's cousin, Gina, said, "My mother is dead today because
the Ray family neglected her." When it came time for the funeral, Ray and her
husband were not in attendance due to work, with Gina blasting the couple, saying, "It's inexcusable. It shows
a total lack of caring." "No idea why the dog chews on me. I contain
nothing that would help them live a happy, healthy life like Nutrish Whole
Health Blend. I'm a stick." When a celebrity puts their name on something,
they are often expected to be held accountable for that product. When Rachael Ray's dog
food, Nutrish, faced a giant lawsuit, Ray shouldered nearly all of the public outrage
rather than simply a portion of it. People seemed to either forget or conveniently ignore that she
was not involved with the day-to-day operations or the manufacturing of the product line when
it was found to have a harmful ingredient. The pet food line was originally manufactured by
Ainsworth Pet Nutrition before being purchased by the J.M. Smucker Company, who owned it when
a $5 million class action lawsuit was filed in 2018. In the lawsuit, a consumer pointed out that
the so-called "natural" dog food contained the herbicide glyphosate, which he alleged was false
advertising. A judge dismissed the case in 2019 due to a lack of specificity, but Ray already took
the brunt of the harsh criticism from the media. That is to be expected — the canine food is
officially named Rachael Ray Nutrish — but one would expect the actual defendant, Smucker,
to be namechecked in the headlines too. "You're ridiculous, you're so
cute. It's okay Marti. One second, honey. If I can do it Marti, you can." In mid-2020, Rachael Ray lost her Upstate
New York home to fire, and in 2021, extreme flooding took her New York City
apartment. But Ray lost more than just property and material possessions during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, she also had to say goodbye to her beloved dog, Isaboo,
who died in May 2020. She wrote on Instagram, "Today @johnmcusimano and I mourn the loss
of a dog; a pit bull who taught us more about unconditional love, empathy, and understanding
of one another than we could have ever imagined." Despite her loss, Ray remained able
to put things into perspective — she recognized the gift of time that
she was able to spend with Isaboo due to the world slowing down. She
explained in an interview with Extra, "When I lost my dog I was so grateful that I
could be with her the last several months of her life... she died in my arms. I felt guilty and
grateful at the same time. People suffered actual human loss from COVID or because they couldn't
get care... and how many people died alone." A month after Isaboo died, Ray and
her husband adopted another pup, who they named Bella Boo Blue in
honor of their deceased pit bull.
