Trial of celebrity chef Mario Batali is set to begin in Boston
Jury selection gets underway Monday in the trial of Mario Batali on a sexual misconduct charge.
The celebrity chef is accused of indecent assault and battery connected to a 2017 incident at a Boston restaurant. Batali is accused of forcibly kissing and groping a woman after taking a selfie with her.
Batali faces a maximum sentence of 2.5 years in the Suffolk County House of Correction.
Batali’s lawyer has said the charge is “without merit.”
Batali was once a Food Network fixture on shows like “Molto Mario” and “Iron Chef. But the ponytail- and orange Croc-wearing personality’s high-flying career crumbled amid sexual misconduct allegations in recent years. After four women accused him of inappropriate touching in 2017, Batali stepped down from day-to-day operations at his restaurant empire and left the since-discontinued ABC cooking show “The Chew.”
Last July, Batali, his business partner, and their New York City restaurant company agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve a four-year investigation by the New York attorney general’s office into allegations that Batali, restaurant managers, and other workers sexually harassed employees.
Jury selection in his trial begins Monday and is expected to last one day. The trial is expected to last two days.
The trial is taking place in the Central Division of Boston Municipal Court.
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | May 10, 2022 10:12 PM
|
Holy shit I had no idea he being charged with anything. Is it from that video of him kissing a woman in his lap?
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | May 7, 2022 12:51 AM
|
Some people just look better fat.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | May 7, 2022 12:53 AM
|
2.5 years for this sort of offense, is just ridiculous.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | May 7, 2022 12:53 AM
|
[quote] Some people just look better fat.
Agreed. He looks like shit now.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | May 7, 2022 1:12 AM
|
Wait... I thought he was gay?? WTF??
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | May 7, 2022 4:27 AM
|
At least he has the crocs for his jail time.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | May 7, 2022 4:28 AM
|
He always looked sort of manky to me, like I wouldn’t want to eat food he had touched.
Indecent assault? Is there “decent assault?”
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | May 7, 2022 4:29 AM
|
I feel bad for him having to face such public humiliation for such a stupid “offense”
It reminds me of when Kevin Sapcey got taken to court by that busboy whose case fell apart when he was on the stand.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | May 7, 2022 4:49 AM
|
I've never been a fan of the chef, but it seems a bit extreme 2.5 years for copping a feel, I'm not trying to dismiss what the "victim" may have experienced or felt, but it does seem a bit much. Why not just counseling or community service for a certain amount of time? Maybe it's just me...
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | May 7, 2022 4:57 AM
|
He is pretty ugly. I can see him being a little desperate for female attention.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 7, 2022 4:57 AM
|
Lol @ people saying he looks like shit now… now…NOW
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | May 7, 2022 5:02 AM
|
The US is #1 in population in prison per capita, followed by El Salvador, Turkmenistan, Palau and Rwanda.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | May 7, 2022 5:08 AM
|
Good, r12. Other countries let rapists and murderers go free.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 7, 2022 5:10 AM
|
Yet we still have the highest violent crime rate of any first world country, r13 🤔🤔🤔
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 7, 2022 5:23 AM
|
Is the Officer to the left of Batali wearing eyeliner?
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 7, 2022 5:33 AM
|
Let’s face it, if he was a hottie this would not be happening.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | May 7, 2022 5:37 AM
|
R16 so true. But fuck that filthy bastard just the same.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 7, 2022 5:54 AM
|
He looks these days like President John Adams, or an ancirnt Bob Newhart, but he always struck me as a creepy, nasty fucker.
He settled a tip skimming suit with his Babbo restaurant waiters for $5.5M.
His celebrity suck-ups.
The stories of him showing up after hours with a crowd at hot restaurants of the moment and keeping the staff working for hours alleging some connection to the chef or owner and then not topping at all.
He made Gwyneth Paltrow come off as the nice on their joint TV project ("Spain...a culinary tour" or something like.)
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 7, 2022 6:44 AM
|
Not topping R18? That’s just plain rude! He should’ve fucked anyone that wanted it!
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 7, 2022 6:56 AM
|
Ha, R19, that may be DL's highest crime,
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | May 7, 2022 7:12 AM
|
Damn, does he have cancer?
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | May 7, 2022 7:27 AM
|
Uff. He's my age, and a rough ass looking 61. Not that he was remotely a hot 35 when he started showing up on TV.
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | May 7, 2022 7:38 AM
|
Regardless of whether he's technically a sex offender, how embarrassing for his wife to know her husband is out there groping other women
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | May 10, 2022 6:48 PM
|
^ He waived a jury and tried his case to the bench. I don't know if he is truly guilty or innocent but I would bet no judge was going to want to find him guilty and deal with the backlash from his crazy fan club.
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | May 10, 2022 6:48 PM
|
Yeah he's really a superstar in the food world, people still rave about Eately.
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | May 10, 2022 6:50 PM
|
I use to look like a young Mario Batalli. No one would ever fuck me tho. I’m so sad and pathetic
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | May 10, 2022 7:41 PM
|
Compared to Joe Bastianich, Mario Batali is a saint. Joe is just as guilty of sexual harassment as Mario, but because of his saintly mother Lidia, nothing will ever happen to him. Where are the women who have been groped by Joe?
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | May 10, 2022 8:57 PM
|
I worked for him. He was a party animal but so were the women who chose to hang around him, hoping for free booze and a feel. These women got as much out of the encounters as he did.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | May 10, 2022 9:22 PM
|
If this whole indictment is based on that video of a woman sitting in his lap while he groped her and kissed her then it's bullshit. She was nervously giggling and while it was clear she was uncomfortable she could have easily gotten up and left. She looked middle aged so she knew how to handle herself.
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | May 10, 2022 9:26 PM
|
Sure, she was looking for just a selfie at 2am in Boston. She got exactly what she expected to get. And was more than willing.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | May 10, 2022 10:11 PM
|
