NEED TO KNOW
Giada De Laurentiis is speaking out about Mario Batali’s foreword to her 2005 cookbook Everyday Italian
“When I read it, I cried because I realized, ‘Oh, he’s basically saying that I’ve gotten to where I’ve gotten, and I’ve had this little bit of success that I had, because I have big boobs,'” she said
De Laurentiis says she and her editor rewrote the foreword and sent it to Batali for approval
Giada De Laurentiis is calling out Mario Batali for comments she claims he made in the original foreword to her book Everyday Italian.
“This is a person we’re not supposed to talk about, but we’re going to,” De Laurentiis said during an appearance on Samah Dada’s YouTube show, On the Menu.
The former Food Network star says she asked Batali to write a foreword for her 2005 cookbook because he was “a legend in the Italian space.”
“I felt like his stamp of approval would’ve been huge for me,” she recalled.
Batali agreed to write it, but De Laurentiis says the way it turned out was not what she expected.
“When I read it, I cried because I realized, ‘Oh, he’s basically saying that I’ve gotten to where I’ve gotten, and I’ve had this little bit of success that I had, because I have big boobs, and that if he had boobs, he would even be much further,’”
“Because I’m like, a joke, right?” she added. “Like, to him, it was like a little bit of a joke.”
The celebrity chef says she called her editor “in tears.”
“I’m like, clearly I can’t use this. So now what do I do?” she remembers saying.
De Laurentiis says she and her editor rewrote the foreword and sent it to Batali for approval.
“But I will never forget that that’s basically what a lot of people figured — cute girl with big boobs, so that’s why they’re watching her,” she added.
PEOPLE reached out to Batali for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The foreword that was ultimately published in the book reads, “It turns out that Giada is smart, Italian-speaking, and family-oriented — the three qualities my grandma hoped I’d find in a girl to marry. (Too late for that.) She’s also a great cook, highly knowledgeable about food, and a huge amount of fun to be around — the three qualities I’d hope to find in a television partner.”
Batali was first accused of sexual harassment and assault in December 2017.
Eater reported that he allegedly groped four different women and engaged in inappropriate touching spanning two decades.
In May 2022, Batali was found not guilty on charges of indecent battery and assault in Boston Municipal Court. The chef settled two more cases in August 2022, according to The New York Times.
He was divested from restaurants following the allegations. Joe Bastianich and Batali formerly ran the B&B Hospitality Group together.
In a statement to PEOPLE in 2018, B&B Hospitality Group announced their partnership with Batali was ending, calling victim accounts “chilling and deeply disturbing.” In 2021, the company was ordered to pay $600,000 to 20 people who were sexually assaulted while working at their restaurants.
De Laurentiis’s hit cooking series Everyday Italian premiered on Food Network in 2003 and ran for 12 seasons. De Laurentiis also appeared on other shows over the next two decades, such as Giada Entertains, Giada’s Holiday Handbook, Giada in Italy and Food Network Star, before leaving the network in 2023.
Since parting ways with the network, De Laurentiis has focused on her lifestyle brand, Giadzy, and released a new cookbook, Super-Italian. Earlier this year, she returned to TV for the Prime Video special Giada in My Kitchen.
Read the original article on People
