Mario Batali Allegedly Got Gropey With Fans, Too

Mario Batali Allegedly Got Gropey With Fans, Too

Mario Batali, host of popular cooking shows America’s Rape Kitchen and Actual Kitchen Nightmares, Seriously Gordon, Some Bugs and Soggy Pizza Is Nothing Compared to What Mario Did, is back in the news with more allegations of inappropriate behavior, this time towards fan of the deep-dish Italian chef.

Eater New York had details of Batali’s creepy behavior around women, in a story I am absolutely sure the writer never thought they’d have to write on a food blog. Trust me, I know, when I took this job I was writing about weird world news and making fun of celebrities, now I’m weighing in on how basically everyone I admired is a huge creep.

In April of last year, Tene said, Batali allegedly groped her at Towne Stove and Spirits, a Boston bar next to the city’s Eataly. She claims that Batali, who seemed intoxicated, suggested they take selfies together, then rubbed her breasts, grabbed her backside, put his hands between her legs, and kept squeezing her face into his as he kissed her. The resulting photos, which she provided to Eater, were “shockingly uncomfortable,” she said. A friend who was there with her said he witnessed Batali being “handsy.”

In Washington that’s known as either a Franken or an HW, depending on which side of the political spectrum you fall on.

In (Sara) Watson’s case, she spotted Batali at a bar near her home in New Orleans in January 2016. “I feel like he literally treated me like a piece of food,” Watson, now 31, said. “He put his tongue in my ear, he licked my face, he grabbed me, touched me all over.”

One thing about you can say about Mario Batali is that he’s an equal-opportunity creep. Here’s the story of his meeting with 60-year-old Rebecca Marshall last year.

She did so, thinking that it was part of the party atmosphere, she said. But Batali eventually crossed an uncomfortable line, she said. As her friend snapped photos, Batali started kissing her on the cheek, and when Marshall turned her head, he “stuck his tongue in my mouth,” Marshall said. She started to laugh and leaned back from his lap, using momentum to get off, she said; her friend confirmed that she witnessed and photographed the events, saying that she watched “for signals” that Marshall needed more help.

There’s more of these in the article, but I can’t go on. Batali kind of looks like a meatball covered in sauce and I’m having pasta for dinner, I don’t want to ruin my appetite.

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