In addition to his role as host of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy Fieri is a household name. Celebrity chef-restaurateur Michael Symon has won many accolades for raising $21 million for restaurant workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though some of his colleagues have criticized him for everything from his clothing choices to his cooking abilities, Fieri has managed to avoid a lot of controversy over 15 years in the public eye.
In 2006, Fieri became a household name after winning Food Network’s Next Food Network Star contest. Flavortown now has over 75 restaurants worldwide and millions of fans. He started his career as a cooking and cooking show star and has since built an empire.
Even someone as enigmatic as Guy Fieri can’t avoid a public meltdown after spending so much time in the spotlight. Many of these events have taken place in the past, and the mayor of Flavortown has had relatively trouble-free times since then. The fact is, however, that Fieri’s record is far from spotless, between his alleged homophobic remarks and his failures at the restaurant.
Guy Fieri accused of homophobia
David Page, a former producer of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, may have exposed Guy Fieri as homophobic, among other things, in 2011. Page allegedly claimed that Fieri left a restaurant because the owners were a gay couple. After the frosty-tipped celeb left the set, Page claimed to have received a call from her, according to the City Pages of Minnesota.
“These people are freaking me out!” He shouted. “You can’t send me out to talk to gay people without warning!” Page reported to the newspaper (via HuffPost).
Fieri’s team vehemently denied the rumors. A spokesperson said: “He’s a stand-up guy who does the right thing with people.”
A second member of the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives team disagreed with Page, however.
A former field producer for the show, Kari Kloster, told City Pages: “It’s well known being on the team that Guy has a problem – if there was a gay man in a restaurant as a character principal, the shooting was different”. (via HuffPost).
Fieri’s fame shielded him from many scandals, but even his all-star PR team couldn’t hide his prejudices.
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Guy Fieri could have been a terrible boss
When you watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Guy Fieri’s show, you get the impression that he’s a fun, down-to-earth guy who knows where to find the best burger. Former employees of the show, on the other hand, say Fieri’s TV persona can be misleading.
As a former production worker told Chowhound, Fieri was not only known for his homophobia and inappropriate jokes about women, but also for his treatment of people who worked on his show, who portrayed him as a bully. .
“Fieri had ridiculous demands all hours of the day,” the former employee said. When it came to travel, he made his employees work long hours and did not accept tickets from airlines he did not like. Fieri frequently rescheduled shoots so he could get his hair done and frosted. He had no fans, in my opinion. Due to her meeting with Fieri, the production employee decided to leave the television industry altogether.
Guy Fieri and Anthony Bourdain once faced each other
Antoine Bourdain wasn’t a fan of Guy Fieri’s Flavortown, but it’s unclear exactly what Fieri did to him. A 2012 episode of Opie and Anthony featured a parody of Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar, where Bourdain called it a “terror dome” and claimed that Fieri had “single-handedly turned the neighborhood into the Ed Hardy neighborhood” (via Eater). GQ reports that when Bourdain’s yellow Lamborghini was stolen, he mocked Fieri.
Fieri, on the other hand, wasn’t about to go down easy. As he told GQ, “I don’t like him making fun of people and talking shit. “What are you doing here? What motivated your decision? The only thing you care about is do I have bleached hair or not? Just F***.”
Ultimately, they were never able to put things right until Bourdain’s untimely passing in 2018. Due to their opposing views on life and food, they looked more than anything like the antagonists of ‘A comic.
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Guy Fieri apparently can’t stop himself from cracking inappropriate jokes
It’s rare for Fieri to get bad press, but in 2011, the Minneapolis City Pages ran an expose on the celebrity chef’s dark side that shocked even his most ardent fans. David Page, the former producer of Fieri, notably accused him of homophobia and sexual harassment.
“Guy went into a sex riff every time a woman mentioned ‘cream,'” Page told City Pages (via Gothamist). Despite Page’s claims that no women corroborated them, the jokes didn’t stop there. Also, according to Page, when the cameras weren’t rolling, Fieri was often seen staring longingly at women’s breasts. Because Guy’s eye line is always on the breasts, you had to tell the editors to keep an eye out for him when editing the show.
It turns out that Fieri was also a big fan of bathroom jokes. “Guy’s shitty jokes should be protected,” Page said. Guy, let’s eat while we’re here.
Guy Fieri’s New York restaurant was sadly terrible
Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen and Bar opened in New York’s Times Square in 2012, before being slammed by New York Times food critic, Pete Wells. According to Wells, the menu was overwhelming in its descriptions of dishes that didn’t quite live up to flavor. The restaurant was huge and could accommodate 500 people.
Despite his fame as a television personality, Fieri’s restaurant was a financial failure. Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar’s uphill battle began with Wells’ amusing but scathing review. Wells’ displeasure with the tiny portions, radioactive hues of the drinks, and crowded atmosphere was apparently shared by the majority of the general public. Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar closed in 2017 after a short period of five years. Flavortown isn’t actually located in Times Square, despite Fieri’s best efforts.
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Guy Fieri got into a fight with his hairdresser
Fieri and her hairstylist Ariel Ramirez had a falling out in 2013 and the video posted by TMZ was shocking. Ramirez can be seen punching Fieri as the celebrity chef gets into his car and tries to close the door in the video. In the midst of Fieri kicking Ramirez, Ramirez moans and shouts obscenities.
When TMZ dug deeper, they couldn’t find much to back up their claims about the altercation. It was “just guys being guys,” a source close to Fieri said. On the way home from a long flight, Fieri and his hairdresser had been drinking, as evidenced by their demeanor. Ramirez was kicked out of the car and told to take a cab by Fieri instead of carpooling.
To their credit, they seem to be quick to forget. A rep for Fieri said the incident was nothing more than a group of friends arguing “having fun.” However, things have calmed down a bit now.
Guy Fieri’s restaurants may have poor hygiene
From the start, Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar, Fieri’s Times Square restaurant, was unlucky. Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar received a B rating from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 2016, just years after Pete Wells posted a devastating takedown of the Flavortown hot spot.
“Garbage flies or flies associated with food/garbage/sewage present in food and/or non-food areas of the establishment. Additionally, Fieri employees were disciplined for not wearing gloves when handling food.
Due to the presence of unwanted vermin, this was not the first time that the Fieri restaurant received a low rating. Cockroaches were the pest of choice in 2015. Keeping the restaurant closed would have given the rats time to move in, which would have been a bad idea.
