Celebrity chef Mario Batali is acquitted of sexual misconduct
Mario Batali was found not guilty of indecent assault and battery on Tuesday, following a swift trial in which the celebrity chef waived his right to have a jury decide his fate in a criminal case that arose from the global #MeToo movement against sexual abuse and harassment.
The 61year-old former Food Network personality quickly strode out of the courtroom with his lawyers without commenting on the case, which centered on allegations that he aggressively kissed and groped a Boston woman while taking a selfie at a bar in 2017.
In delivering the verdict, Boston Municipal Court Judge James Stanton agreed with Batali’s lawyers that the accuser had credibility issues and that photos suggested the encounter was amicable.
“Pictures are worth a thousand words,” he said.
But the judge also rebuked Batali while suggesting he has already paid “a high cost” in terms of his diminished reputation and financial losses.
“It’s an understatement to say that Mr. Batali did not cover himself in glory on the night in question,” Stanton said after prosecutors argued he was visibly drunk in the photos. “His conduct, his appearance and his demeanor were not befitting of a public person of his stature at that time.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said he was disappointed in the verdict but grateful Batali’s accuser had come forward.
“It can be incredibly difficult for a victim to disclose a sexual assault,” he said in a statement. “When the individual who committed such an abhorrent act is in a position of power or celebrity, the decision to report an assault can become all the more challenging and intimidating.”
Batali, who pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and battery in 2019, took a calculated gamble that Stanton, a former Republican candidate for state representative appointed to the bench by Republican
Gov. Charlie Baker, would rule more favorably than a Boston jury.
Seeking a non-jury, or bench trial, is often a strategy employed when a defendant can come across as unlikeable to jurors.
Batali faced up to 2 years in jail and would’ve been required to register as a sex offender if convicted.
After four women accused him of inappropriate touching in 2017, he stepped down from day-today operations at his restaurant empire and left the since-discontinued ABC cooking show “The Chew.”
Batali also apologized, acknowledging the allegations “match up” with ways he has acted.
“I have made many mistakes,” he said in an email newsletter at the time. “My behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility.”
Last year, Batali, his business partner and their New York restaurant company agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve an investigation by the New York attorney general’s office into allegations that Batali and other staff sexually harassed employees.