Posted on 03/01/2008 3:50:10 PM PST by meowmeow
New York -- Robert Irvine, host of the popular Food Network series "Dinner Impossible," has lost his job following allegations that he padded his resume.
Irvine had claimed that he helped design Princess Diana's wedding cake, worked at the White House and graduated from the University of Leeds. But an article was published in the St. Petersburg Times last week that cast doubt on his claims.
On Friday, the Food Network announced they were not renewing his contract with the show, and released the following statement:
"We looked into the situation and found that, as Robert has already admitted, there were some embellishments and inaccuracies in his resume. The few and minor incidents of the inclusion of these embellishments into 'Dinner Impossible' have been removed.
The show is, and has always been, completely accurate in the depiction of the cooking challenges faced by Robert. We will continue airing both old shows and the new season of programs currently in production. We have not renewed Robert's contract for future seasons but will fulfill our contractual obligations. We rely on the trust that our viewers have in the accuracy of the information we present, and Robert challenged that trust.
We appreciate Robert's remorse about his actions, and we can revisit this decision at the end of the production cycle, but for now we will be looking for a replacement host."
At the same time, the network also released a statement from Irvine, who expressed remorse for his actions:
”I was wrong to exaggerate in statements related to my experiences in the White House and the Royal Family. I am proud of my work as part of the Guest Chef program in the White House, the opportunities I had on the Royal Yacht Britannia and my culinary accomplishments, and I should have stood on those alone, without embellishment.
I remain committed and enthusiastic about my work with Food Network and other future endeavors. I am truly sorry for misleading people and misstating the facts.To all my family, friends and loyal fans, I will work tirelessly to regain your trust and continue to use my show and life to benefit the less fortunate."
It’s a little silly, though. Is he a good chef, or not? I would argue that, while the Food Network is free to do what it wants, it’s not like he was in a position of public or fiduciary trust.
This follows on the heels of another “padded resume” during their show on celebrity chefs. They had this bad-tempered (but kind of fun to watch) punk claim to have this big military record which he turned out not to have.
The Food Network would truly “jump the shark” if Good Eats and everything else that Alton Brown does on that channel eventually does come to an end. Good Eats is a decent show, IMHO.
You mean Gia-tatas?
It’s certainly a judgement call: I may lie to you that I can hit .350 in the big leagues, but what happens when I get to the big leagues and hit .350?
Hands-down winner, of course, is Rachel Ray, who has translated practical meal-making into a near billion-dollar empire that is starting to rival Martha's.
Maybe they don’t like liars. Keep in mind that the network broadcasted his claims, and find themselves embarrassed about it. I just mentioned Rachel Ray—she never claims to be a chef at all, just a practical and impatient cook—and she’s hit the big time.
The Food Network has a reputation (goodwill) to be concerned about, yes. And if this guy is a talented chef, he’ll land on his feet anyway . . . despite being a liar.
They have more than one. :)
The way the camera crawls down Giada's cleavage gets to be yucky to women viewers--park it on a porn site and get back to the food.
It'd be so much fun to see Saturday Night Live spoof Giada. Just do a full picture of the Rack, no face or food, just the Wonder Bra...with her voice in the background with her pretentious pronuncuation...pahn...chettt--ttta
Motorboat-Motorboat.
Where can we go to complain. I could care less about his resume his show is fun to watch!
OK, he padded his resume but it wasn’t like he was running for Congress. It was a TV show, fer cryin out loud. A cooking show. Is there no perspective any more?
The US government didn't require his firing--it's not like the ridiculous congressional hearings over baseball and steroids.
They do that? Really? I've watched her a hundred times and never noticed.
Of course I once clicked the channel and it took me 30 seconds to realize the attractive, buxom woman was giving the weather forecast. It took me another minute to realize she was speaking Spanish. I'm not making that up.
They show Nigela’s bust to distract from the size of he butt.
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