When Giada De Laurentiis published her first cookbook, Everyday Italian, in 2005, she was thrilled to have a foreword lined up from Mario Batali, already a major figure in the world of Italian cuisine. But what landed in her inbox wasn’t what she expected.
On a recent episode of Samah Dada’s YouTube show On the Menu, De Laurentiis said she cried after reading it. The text, as she remembers it, implied that her early success was due not to her culinary skill, but to her physical appearance — specifically, her chest. “To him, it was like a little bit of a joke.”
For De Laurentiis, who had worked to establish herself as more than a television personality, it wasn’t remotely funny. “I called my editor, and I was in tears,” she said. Her editor suggested rewriting the foreword and sending it back for approval, which they did. The published version stressed that she wasn’t on TV “because she’s merely attractive” but because she was “a real Italian girl who can cook.” Still, the experience stayed with her. “That’s basically what a lot of people figured,” she said — that her looks, not her talent, were what drew viewers.
Batali has not commented publicly on her account. In recent years, his once-prominent public profile has sharply diminished following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
In December 2017, as the #MeToo movement gathered momentum, Eater New York reported on several women accusing Batali of inappropriate touching and behavior in restaurants and other professional settings. Shortly after, he was fired from the ABC daytime show The Chew.
Following that initial report, Batali stepped away from his businesses and issued a statement acknowledging wrongdoing. “I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt,” he said. “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.”
In May 2022, Batali was found not guilty of indecent assault and battery in a Boston criminal trial. Three months later, he settled civil sexual misconduct lawsuits with two women who accused him of groping them in the city.
De Laurentiis has since gone on to write 10 more cookbooks and host numerous television programs. But she says that first brush with Batali’s words was a reminder of how quickly public perceptions can reduce a professional woman’s work to her appearance — and how much effort it can take to push back.
