Eataly Buys Mario Batali Out of Ownership In Wake of Sexual Misconduct Scandal
Mario Batali is no longer associated with Eataly, the famed Italian marketplace and restaurant.
A spokesperson for Eataly announced the news on Friday, that the company had purchased Batali's minority interest, formally ending the disgraced chef's involvement with the popular brand.
Eataly has several locations around the United States, including New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Batali hadn't been directly involved with Eataly since 2017, when multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, including incidents of groping.
The allegations came during the height of the #MeToo movement, and forced the orange Croc wearing chef to step down from all the restaurants he was associated with.
The allegations also led to the cancellation of Batali's ABC food show, "The Chew."
After Batali's empire had crumbled, he released a statement to Eater, apologizing for his actions.
"I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt," he wrote.
Batali continued,
"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."
At the time, Batali also announced he was stepping away from his businesses so as not to taint them with his presence.
He explained,
"I have work to do to try to regain the trust of those I have hurt and disappointed. For this reason, I am going to step away from day-to-day operations of my businesses. We built these restaurants so that our guests could have fun and indulge, but I took that too far in my own behavior. I won’t make that mistake again. I want any place I am associated with to feel comfortable and safe for the people who work or dine there.
Batali has not commented since being cut out of Eataly.
