The Brutal Jabs Anthony Bourdain Took At Bobby Flay
Bobby Flay has undoubtedly taken the status of celebrity chef to the next level, becoming the first to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. The attention he received from his career, however, also put a spotlight on the more questionable aspects of his life. Flay's complicated love life, for example, had the public questioning his character on more than one occasion. Flay had a hard time keeping his name out of the news throughout most of 2015, when his marriage to Stephanie March came crashing down amid allegations of infidelity.
According to the "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" alum, Flay cheated on her with January Jones, his assistant Elyse Tirrell, and a third unnamed woman, as In Touch Weekly reported at the time. The realities of both his accomplished career and personal turmoil collided that June during his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. Right as Flay gave his acceptance speech, a plane flew conspicuously close while displaying a banner with the word "cheater," as ABC News reported. March denied any involvement.
But his personal life aside, Flay's irreverent demeanor and confident — okay, cocky — personality hasn't always made him the most esteemed person in the kitchen. Flay has had his culinary skills diminished by many of his fellow celebrity chefs, including Anthony Bourdain. While Bourdain was known for butting heads with chefs and celebs in general, he appeared to have endless commentary when it came to the Food Network fixture.
Anthony Bourdain seemingly enjoyed making fun of Flay
Anthony Bourdain was famous for many things, and most of them involved or were enhanced by his acerbic wit. The side effect of it, though, was Bourdain's many public feuds. Bobby Flay didn't dodge the late "Parts Unknown" host's sharp tongue. In the 2014 Las Vegas episode of his award-winning CNN series, Bourdain took a jab at Flay while at the Caesars Palace villa. "Bobby Flay probably lives like this all the time," he joked (via Eater). Bourdain, however, was even more cruel when it came to Flay's cooking competition show. "'Beat Bobby Flay' sounds promising until you realize it's about cooking," Bourdain said (via Delaware Online). Yikes!
In Bourdain's defense, his beef is seemingly more with the Food Network than with Flay. In a 2007 guest essay for Michael Ruhlman's blog, Bourdain criticized the network for capitalizing on Flay's "strong 'negatives' among some viewer responses" by purposefully making him lose to amateurs. "Now... does ANYONE actually believe that Bobby Flay can't make a better chili than a supermarket ground beef bearing amateur? I don't. It's a cruel exercise in humiliation," Bourdain penned.
Still, jokes at Flay's expense amused him. When Flay supposedly acted to have the "Angry Bobby Flay" Twitter account shut down, Bourdain told HuffPost that Flay was thin-skinned, but showed sympathy for him nonetheless. "That's so lame. I like Bobby — he's a decent guy — but I'm really sorry to hear that," said Bourdain, who was a fan of the mock account.
Gordon Ramsay has a beef with Bobby Flay too
Gordon Ramsay is famous for yelling and being rude, so it isn't overwhelmingly shocking that he's dissed plenty of his fellow celebrity chefs. Ramsay's beef with Bobby Flay appears to stem back from his 2013 interview with Men's Journal, when he suggested to be an endless better chef than the Food Network fixture. "I laugh when they say, 'Let's see if he's a real chef. Let's get him up against Bobby Flay on 'Iron Chef.' I'm like, 'F**king do me a favor... come on.' I've forgotten more than he's known!" Ramsay said.
Flay got word of Ramsay's comments and urged the "Hell's Kitchen" star to rise up to the challenge. "@gordonramsay01 ...disappointed but noted. Let's settle this like men, in the kitchen! No words, just knives. Show up or shut up," Flay wrote on Twitter. Ramsay seemingly accepting the challenge while once again diminishing Flay's talents. "1hr cook off you've got a 45min Head start !!!!! DONE!" Ramsay tweeted.
In May 2013, Flay told Eater Las Vegas he attempted to settle the issue by suggesting a cook-off that generated "something positive." "Why don't we create some kind of kitchen stadium outside on the Strip in front of Caesars Palace, get some sponsors and Caesars to put up a bunch of money winner takes all to their favorite charity?" But when "Iron Chef" reached out to Ramsay, he refused, Flay contended. The cook-off still hasn't happened, but we haven't lost hope.