Walsh ‘relieved’ as Teamsters acquitted in ‘Chef’ trial
Mayor Martin J. Walsh called the not-guilty verdict in the blockbuster “Top Chef” case a vindication of any wrongdoing by his office — even as a key city official cited in the trial’s testimony awaits his own court date on extortion charges.
The four Teamsters who had been accused of threatening “Top Chef” cast and crew members as a way to extort jobs for their union were found not guilty yesterday, sharply limiting any potential political fallout for the Walsh administration.
During testimony, one network executive said Walsh entertainment czar Kenneth Brissette pressured the show to hire union members, and prosecutors identified Brissette as an unindicted coconspirator.
But Walsh said a city-commissioned report from 2015, led by outside prosecutor Brian Kelly, had previously cleared City Hall and said the jury’s verdict reinforced that conclusion.
“I’m relieved that the trial’s over. From the very beginning the city of Boston had nothing to do with this,” Walsh said, repeatedly emphasizing that the alleged threats took place while the show filmed in Milton.
“This verdict, this trial, had nothing to do with Boston. This trial was all about Milton, it had nothing to do with Boston,” the mayor said. “It was the press that kept saying Boston.”
When asked about testimony implicating Brissette and City Hall as pressuring organizers, Walsh said the jury had the final say.
“The jury found the defendants not guilty, so maybe you’ll have to ask the jury how come they found them not guilty,” he said.
At a press conference, Walsh seemed eager to move past the trial and its possible fallout on labor relations. He pushed back on a Herald report Monday citing state figures that suggest reality show filming has dramatically decreased in Massachusetts since the “Top Chef” incident, saying, “the correlation putting those together is completely false and not accurate.”
Walsh also said he does not think the verdicts will encourage unions to threaten or otherwise intimidate non-union operations.
“I would hope not,” Walsh said when asked if the verdict was a green light for harassment. “I’m a firm believer in negotiation ... You can’t let it get to that point and I don’t condone that, regardless to what trade it is, what union it is. I don’t condone that activity, never have, never will.”
Yet City Hall’s union ties will be back in the spotlight in January, as Brissette and Timothy Sullivan, Walsh’s chief of staff for intergovernmental affairs, go on trial in federal court on charges they extorted the Boston Calling concert organizers into hiring union members in 2014.
Asked what the “Top Chef” verdict might mean for Brissette and Sullivan, Walsh was non-committal.
“I’m going to wait and see what happens,” he said. “That’s a question you’ll probably have to ask the U.S. attorney’s office.”