Mario Batali Settles 2 Sexual Misconduct Lawsuits in Boston

One accusation from 2017 resulted in an acquittal of the Food Network star in May

Mario Batali
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Celebrity chef Mario Batali has agreed to settle lawsuits from two women stemming from separate claims of sexual assault in Boston, including one accusation that resulted in Batali being acquitted back in May.

“The matters have been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties,” attorneys Eric Baum and Matthew Fogelman, who represent Natalie Tene and Alexandra Brown said in a joint statement to media. “We cannot comment further due to confidentiality obligations.”

Batali’s attorney Anthony Fuller did not immediately return a request for comment.

Tene in 2017 accused Batali of groping her breasts, buttocks and crotch area at a Boston Eataly restaurant, a chain that Batali at one point partially owned, as she was trying to take a selfie. He was then formally charged with indecent assault and battery in 2019. In her testimony for the criminal case, she had previously said she “felt confused and powerless to do anything to stop the celebrity chef.”

Fuller at the time said the assault did not happen and that the accuser has financial incentive to lie about it.

Brown also accused Batali of a similar sexual assault while posing for a selfie tied to an incident in Boston at a different restaurant in 2016.

Batali, a fixture of the Food Network and the ABC cooking and talk show “The Chew,” was publicly accused of sexual misconduct by four women in an Eater article published in December 2017, right at the height of the #MeToo era. The chef said in a statement at the time, “Much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted. That behavior was wrong and there are no excuses.”

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