Mario Batali, celebrity chef turned retailer - he is a partner in Eataly USA - has been accused of sexual harassment by four women, and has admitted his guilt while stepping away from his restaurant and retail businesses as well as his co-hosting duties on ABC’s “The Chew.”
“I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt,” Batali said in a statement. “Although the identities of most of the individuals mentioned in these stories have not been revealed to me, much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted. 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’s business empire - reportedly worth at least $250 million - includes five retail stores and 23 restaurants.
“I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt,” Batali said in a statement. “Although the identities of most of the individuals mentioned in these stories have not been revealed to me, much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted. 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’s business empire - reportedly worth at least $250 million - includes five retail stores and 23 restaurants.
- KC's View:
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Inexcusable. And I’m sure just the beginning within the retail industry.
I know this. I love Batali’s Tarry Lodge restaurant in Westport, mostly because I’m pretty much addicted to the black fettuccine with rock shrimp, fennel and chilis. But I’m not going back. It is a small protest, but my own.
