Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis alleged Mario Batali wrote in her cookbook forward that her success was about her body, not talent.

The Food Network star, 54, recently appeared on Samah Dada’s YouTube show, “On the Menu,” and recalled asking now-disgraced chef Mario Batali to write the foreword for her 2005 cookbook, “Everyday Italian.” However, Batali’s comments in the book were far from kind.

Sometimes the kitchen is too hot for more than one chef at a time, sparking feuds between Food Network mainstays. Giada De Laurentiis claimed in July 2025 that fellow TV chef Mario Batali made an inappropriate comment about her body while writing a foreword for her 2005 cookbook,