Anthony Bourdain was right about Guy Fieri [View all]

[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/