If you are a Food TV lover like I am, then you are also probably an addict to what I consider some of the greatest food porn out there: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and the endless supply of mouthwatering, melted cheese covered, greasy restaurant visits made by host Guy Fieri. I am not embarrassed to admit that I love watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives as I fall asleep at night, because at least then, I am sleepy enough not to hop in the car and drive to the nearest diner for a late night pig-out fest.
An article from a few weeks ago, found via Queen Blogging Bee Lilit Marcus’ new project Faith Goes Pop, reveals that ultimate nosher Guy Fieri may indeed demonstrate anti-Semitic and homophobic leanings. Gasp!?
The piece is lengthy, though a very interesting read about the evolution of the show. It paints, however, a less than ideal portrait of our spiky haired food lover. The article points to a few statements from Fieri including:
“They were demanding tremendous research from my people, and pictures, but they didn’t want to pay for them,” Page says. “Guy said to me: ‘You know, it’s true: Jews are cheap.’”
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Guy Fieri, never one to remain quiet, made a public statement in response to the piece and refuted the claims made in the City Pages piece.
In my view, it is not clear from the pieces whether Guy’s comments were taken out of context or not. Either way, my former guilty pleasure now has a bit of a cloud hanging overhead. Faith Goes Pop points out that, isn’t it Fieri’s brashness that made America fall in love with him in the first place? And that perhaps we shouldn’t be quite so shocked at some of his off color comments. Nevertheless, the jury is still out for me whether my enjoyment of “Triple D” will ever be able to return to its former glory.
