Anthony Bourdain was right about Guy Fieri

[marmar]

Anthony Bourdain was right about Guy Fieri
Bourdain knew that food was political. Here's why the Mayor of Flavortown’s politics matter, too

By ASHLIE D. STEVENS
Food Editor
PUBLISHED JULY 17, 2023 12:00PM (EDT)


(Salon) When a photo published online last weekend of celebrity chef Guy Fieri warmly greeting former president Donald Trump ringside at Las Vegas' UFC 290, hosted in the T-Mobile Arena, Seattle-based chef Eric Rivera posted it on Twitter with a simple caption: "I've been trying to tell you about Guy Fieri, but a lot of you didn't want to listen."

Since Fieri first hit the national culinary scene during his successful run on the second season of "The Next Food Network Star," which aired in 2006, there have been clues to his political beliefs, the most memorable of which veer unsavory. About a decade ago, for instance, a former producer on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," one of Fieri's long-running Food Network programs, alleged via a lawsuit that the host was openly homophobic and lewd on set.

As Gothamist reported in 2011, the producer, David Page, said that "anytime any woman mentioned 'cream,' Guy went into a sexual riff" and that Fieri reportedly told show producers, "You can't send me to talk to gay people without warning! Those people weird me out!" However, unlike some other culinary personalities — like José Andrés, Padma Lakshmi or even the late Anthony Bourdain — Fieri has by and large remained pretty tightlipped about his personal politics in the way that is very much de rigueur for Food Network celebrities.

Yet embracing Trump was blatant enough to force even Fieri's most politically disinterested fans to confront the fact that, in order for someone to become mayor of anything — even if it's just the Mayor of Flavortown — they have to run on a platform, and in the case of Fieri, what that actually is has been muffled by years of tired debates about the aesthetic merits of bleached tips and Donkey Sauce. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/07/17/anthony-bourdain-was-right-about-guy-fieri/

[hlthe2b]

1. I really liked Bourdain. He loved travel &experencing/emerging in cultures...

That endeared him to me. Frankly the rest of that crowd, I could gladly ignore.

[Cha]

2. Thank you.. he's the one who sounds

Awful & Weird.

When that OP was posted about Mark Wahlberg & him cozy with trump I didn't know who he was.. I thought he was a musician, too.. just seeing right now he's big time food network tool.

I don't even have a tv so I missed it.

[BigmanPigman]

3. I have watched Drive-Ins, Diners, etc

and I can say I am not surprised.

[Warpy]

8. Ever catch any of the unguarded expressions on the faces of women in the kitchens?

They all looked like they'd have preferred beaning him with a heavy skillet to having to be polite to him in their kitchens.

I was never a fan, he always struck me as a blowhard who never listened. I think I'm right, too.

The only point to watching that show was watching him shove overloaded plates of really bad food into his face and speculating on how long it was going to take his liver to explode from fat overload. Alas, from that article, it seems have gone to his head, instead.

I did like Bourdain. He was smart, funny, and flawed. I wish he was still around.

[BigmanPigman]

14. Tony and Guy are like night and day.

Bourdain had respect for people and he had class, Guy...well.....not so much.

[Silent Type]

4. As long as he keeps it off his shows and doesn't endorse GOP, won't get too agitated.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

10. when he retires with his big pot of loot, then he will endorse the GOP and fund them

thats how it goes

[Silent Type]

11. Maybe.

[locks]

5. Bourdain and Fieri

Bourdain was sure right as usual. Wish he was still around to help us in these sad times.

[Carlitos Brigante]

6. The little I've seen of his show seemed meh. I thought Bourdain's mocking of him

was funny. What I find strange are the allegations of homophobia and how that squares off with this:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/time.com/3719849/guy-fieri-gay-weddings/%3famp=true

The host of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy Fieri officiated at a mass wedding ceremony in Miami, Florida on Saturday for 101 same-sex couples.

Celebrity chef and Florida native Art Smith, who has cooked for Oprah Winfrey and former governor Bob Graham, organized the giant wedding on Miami Beach, writes the Associated Press. He summoned some of the country’s top chefs, who were in town for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, to help out.


*****'****

So, if those are true but not recent. He had a change of heart. Maybe a la Rob Portman. Because of his sister. Or he's full of shit.

[Sessuch]

7. The guy who stole Fieri's Lamborgini said:

"Fieri is full of shit."

[niyad]

9. We do remember his fundraising for unemployed restaurant workers during

he pandemic. Not anywhere near Chef Andres level, but something.

[betsuni]

12. I loved the restaurants featured in "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," family owned and run.

Made things from scratch: dry rubs and marinades and sauces, smoked meats, breads and pizza doughs, their own recipes. Serious food people who rarely seemed comfortable around Fieri and his dumb jokes and incessant "Flavortown" "Hold the phone" "Shut the door."

Fieri made it hard to watch, the epitome of the worst of Food Network, hosts with exaggerated personalities and cartoonish appearance (their "brand" ). On the show "The Next Food Network Star" you see by the way some of them work in the kitchen that they're good chefs, but have to have a brand audiences will remember and be entertained by. A guy might happen to be from Texas so they'll brand him The Texas Cowboy Gourmet or something; he'll exaggerate the accent and wear a cowboy outfit with a big hat and yell "Yeeee Haaaaw!" every time he sees meat. It's sad. He's probably a vegetarian who's never been on a ranch in his life. And on other reality shows with cooks competing for something, all of them need a sob story no matter how weak: My Italian grandmother died when I was twelve and I've never gotten over it, my cat ran away five years ago, I missed the bus once.

I did hear about Fieri doing fundraising for causes and other good things, and obviously he's helped many restaurants by promoting them on his shows.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. I am glad that this asshole is being boycotted

Link to tweet