The Big Picture
- Food Network stars have had their fair share of negative press, including accusations of sexual misconduct and lawsuits.
- Mario Batali, Buddy Valastro, Anne Burrell, Geoffrey Zakarian, Alton Brown, and Eddie Huang have all faced scandals and controversies.
- Ariel Robinson, a contestant on Worst Cooks in America , was convicted of beating her foster daughter to death, leading to the show's removal from streaming platforms.
Darnell Ferguson has become a regular face on Food Network over the past several years. He’s appeared on multiple reality competition shows, and co-hosted a season of Worst Cooks In America alongside Anne Burrell. As of right now, Darnell is the host of Superchef Grudge Match, but there is a chance his career at the Food Network may come to an end earlier than he would have ever planned. According to the Courier-Journal, Darnell is facing some very serious charges, and currently stands accused of, “felony burglary and strangulation, as well as misdemeanor assault, terroristic threatening, menacing, criminal mischief and theft.” The person pressing charges against Darnell is his estranged wife, Tatahda Ferguson, who sought out a protective order against him at the beginning of the new year. Entertainment Tonight shared that “Ferguson entered her home without permission and yelled at her about not returning phone calls and text messages before punching holes in the wall and breaking a door.” She alleges that he also held her up against a wall and attempted to strangle her to the point where she blacked out. When he left the residence, he took her credit card and her ID.
This story of Darnell Ferguson’s arrest is a shocking one, especially considering the Food Network brand. They are known primarily for making family-friendly television, and their veteran personalities have a clear understanding. Like many general audience-oriented television networks, Food Network prides itself on the reputation of its celebrity chefs. They’re the faces of the network, after all. But what do they do when these chefs show their darker side? Many of the faces on Food Network have had a variety of negative press. From cheating scandals to criminal offenses, here are the Food Network stars that have checkers in their past. Here are seven stars of the network who found themselves at the center of major scandals.
Worst Cooks In America
TV-GReality-TVComedyGame ShowSome of the worst cooks in the country will compete in an elimination series. The last two standing have the chance to cook for culinary critics and win a cash prize.
Release Date January 3, 2010 Cast Anne Burrell , Tyler Florence , Bobby Flay , Rachael Ray Main Genre Reality-TV Seasons 271 Mario Batali
Women Scream #MeToo
Mario Batali was known for being one of the Iron Chefs on Iron Chef America from 2005 to 2013. A well-known restaurateur, Mario rose to high ranks in the American culinary world. He made his television debut in 2001 on his own series titled Mario Eats Italy, before becoming known as an Iron Chef. On the outside, he seemed to be a quirky and jovial character. Passionate about food, he became known to Food Network fans for the orange crocs he’d wear while competing. Unfortunately, the veneer of the jolly chef fell down in 2017.
At the height of the #MeToo Movement, many were coming out with their stories of being assaulted by people in power, Mario was accused by two women of sexual misconduct. The first accusation came in 2017 and was soon followed by another in 2018. Both women alleged that Mario groped them inappropriately, and the first woman also alleged that he forcibly kissed her without consent. Another lawsuit was brought against Mario and his business partner, Joe Bastianach, and this was filed by 20 former employees who alleged there was sexual misconduct from both parties. That case was settled in 2021, while the cases filed by the two women were settled in 2022. Mario has been pretty quiet since the allegations were brought to light.
2 Buddy Valastro
The Cake Boss Has Too Much to Drink
Buddy Valastro, AKA “The Cake Boss,” first hit TV screens on TLC on a show titled after his famous nickname. The Cake Boss followed Buddy and his family-owned business, Carlo’s Bake Shop. The series took his star to the next level, and soon he became a regular face on the Food Network as well. In 2014, Buddy was arrested for driving under the influence. According to the arresting officers, Buddy attempted to use his celebrity status as an excuse to not be arrested. ABC News states that when arrested, Buddy said, “I had a couple drinks. You can't arrest me! I'm the Cake Boss." The prosecutor also said that Valestro insisted several times, "I'm a good guy… Can you just put me in a cab? I don’t have to be arrested, I’m not a bad guy." Given that DWIs are more common than not, his run-in with the police did not affect his career, and he recently completed his first acting role in Yes Chef! alongside Tia Mowry.
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3 Anne Burrell
An Alleged Sexist Leader
Chef Anne Burrell is one of the many mainstay faces on the Food Network. She’s been a judge on several series, hosted her own cooking show, and, of course, she’s been the primary host of Worst Cooks In America since 2010. She’s primarily known for her no-nonsense attitude in the kitchen, and her tough-love teaching method on Worst Cooks has endeared fans to her immensely. Before Worst Cooks, however, Anne had her own personal scandal involving a lawsuit.
In 2009 Anne was sued by several female staff members at Centro Vinoteca, and the lawsuit alleged discriminatory and sexist behavior from Anne. According to Daily Meal, “In the lawsuit filed by them, female staff members detailed instances where Burrell made derogatory remarks about their bodies and harassed them for information about their sex lives.” Anne left the restaurant industry, and her Food Network career quickly took off.
4 Geoffrey Zakarian
A Horrible Boss
Geoffrey Zakarian is primarily known as one of the primary judges on Chopped. He’s also one of the hosts of The Kitchen, and has hopped around as a judge on various other shows like Beat Bobby Flay and Outchef’d. Geoffrey is also a restaurateur, and has faced his own fair share of lawsuits.
In 2011, Geoffrey was hit by a lawsuit from the staff of his restaurant Country. The restaurant had already closed in 2008, but the employees still had a bone to pick with the restaurateur. Mashed.com reported that “In the class action lawsuit, former cooks claimed that Zakarian had let them down by not fulfilling his basic duties, such as paying them overtime wages. The lawsuit also alleged that he even manipulated pay records to pay them less.
5 Alton Brown
When Being Outspoken Goes Wrong
Alton Brown is no longer a Food Network personality, but that was of his own volition. He left the network to host a reboot of Iron Chef on Netflix, and has not looked back. He was a mainstay on Food Network for decades, primarily thanks to his series Good Eats, which educated viewers on all things food. He also began hosting a show called Cutthroat Kitchen, which involved chefs duking it out to make the best dish while being forced to sabotage their fellow judges to undergo ridiculous challenges. Chefs were handcuffed to each other, forced to cook entire meals out of a single ladle over a single flame, and more. Alton shared that while acting as the host of the unique competition series, he did so as a character he created named” Evilicious.” He shared in an interview, “I like to refer to my character on ‘Cutthroat Kitchen’ as ‘Evilicious.’ I delight in the discomfort of others, but I don’t do it to them. I make things available to the chefs, and they do it to each other.” His statement falls in line with an interesting theory Tumblr users came up with after noticing some of the risqué tools being used in Cutthroat Kitchen. Whether those users are right about the reason he refers to himself as “Daddy” on the show is neither here nor there. What is clear is that he did face a small scandal from an appearance he made a few years back.
A blogger in Iowa took issue with the celebrity chef after attending a book signing in which Alton allegedly made several racially insensitive and homophobic remarks. Despite what he said, the scandal could barely even be considered a scandal, given that it never hit major media outlets. It also isn’t necessarily new behavior for the outspoken celebrity food expert. And, unlike his counterparts on this list, he has yet to face any public legal ramifications, just social ones.
6 Eddie Huang
From Cooking to Scripted Television
Eddie Huang rose to fame on his Food Network series, Cheap Eats, and leveraged that fame when he wrote his memoir, Fresh Off the Boat. Eddie’s life story appealed to many, leading to the book being developed into a TV sitcom. The series was a huge success, and while its success grew, so did the controversy.
In an interview, Huang made racially insensitive comments about Black women, saying, “I feel like Asian men have been emasculated so much in America that we’re basically treated like Black women.” Many took issue with his comments because many feel Eddie is profiting off of Hip Hop's style without paying little or any respect to African American culture, in which hip hop was born. No one can be sure if his comments affected the series, but Fresh off the Boat was canceled in 2020.
7 Ariel Robinson
The Convicted Murderer
Unlike the others on this list, this person is not technically a Food Network personality, but she earned her spot on this list due to the heinous nature of her crime. Ariel Robinson was a contestant on season 20 of Worst Cooks in America. She had a light, bubbly energy and shared that she wanted to learn how to cook to better care for the five foster children she and her husband were the guardians of. Her story was endearing, and her efforts took her all the way to the finale, where she took home the title and the cash prize for the blue team. In 2021, however, things took a dark turn.
Ariel and her husband were charged and convicted of beating their 3-year-old foster daughter to death. Ariel is currently serving life in prison, and season 20 of Worst Cooks has been removed from replay and all streaming platforms.
Superchef Grudge Match currently airs Tuesdays at 9 pm ET on Food Network.WATCH ON FOOD NETWORK
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