Kitchen Nightmares: Scapegoats And Set-Ups? Commentary by Maja Seif
September 25, 2007
This week's Kitchen Nightmares should prove to be an interesting one considering that the results of Gordon Ramsay's visit to Purnima-Dillons Restaurant in Manhattan has been covered by international press all summer. For those who haven't seen the various news articles published on the subject, Dillon's former General Manager, Martin R. Hyde, filed a lawsuit after Kitchen Nightmares' April visit, claiming that a few of the dramatic moments caught on film for the show were staged.
Hyde told reporters that he had been the general manager at Dillons for only a week when Ramsay arrived, and was the one mainly responsible for inviting Fox's reality show to the restaurant in the hopes of reinvigorating it's flailing business. After Ramsay arrived, however, Hyde claims that it soon became apparent through Ramsay's less-than-flattering rebukes of him, that the reality show was setting him up as a scapegoat for the restaurant's many problems.
Hyde claims that the production crew planted rotten meat and a near-broken chair, as well as paid extras to make the restaurant appear more successful, after Ramsay's makeover, than it actually was. He also says that he was forced to quit before being fired at Ramsay's behest, and therefore being further humiliated by Ramsay on camera.
Ramsay's response to the lawsuit has kept in line with his reputation, when he called it a "fucking joke." He told Television Week in an August 28th article, ""We were issued a writ because, God bless America, if the toilet paper is not thick enough and you come out with a rash on your ass [you'll get sued]. Trying to say I set up a wobbly chair... This is supposed to be the most powerful nation in the world, not the most pathetic."
With regard to the allegation that diners were hired to enter the restaurant, anyone who has watched the U.K. version of the show, knows that Ramsay often uses his own celebrity to fill the restaurant after the transformation. The impression given on the show is not that the restaurant spontaneously fills with patrons because of the changes, but in order to experience the changes espoused by Ramsay through various forms of public relations. Past episodes of the U.K. version have shown Ramsay assisting a pub owner to begin a public "Campaign for Real Gravy" (real British gravy being the restaurant's new specialty) and Ramsay out on the sidewalk using his celebrity to convince passers-by to come in and sample a variety of pizzas.
Ramsay retorts, in the Television Week article that Hyde is simply "scared and very embarrassed about his lack of professionalism." He also mentions that the show found droppings from rats in the kitchen, calling it "so disgusting, we didn't need to do anything."
A U.S. District Court judge reportedly sent the case to mediation without honoring Hyde's request that the show not be aired.
Ramsay has had past experiences involving the accusation that his reality shows have been staged. In a past U.K. lawsuit, a newspaper piece accused Ramsay of faking his show, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Ramsay sued the paper successfully, winning monetary compensation as well as a public apology.
Other incidents, however, leave one wondering about the extent of Ramsay's honesty. In one incident, involving spear fishing on his U.K. show, The F Word, production apparently made it appear that Ramsay had speared a sea bass, and it was later revealed by a spear fisherman who was present at the incident, that Ramsay did not catch the fish himself. I have found no reports of Ramsay rebutting this claim.
Early this year, Ramsay claimed to have burned his testicles on a hot stove, and it was later revealed by his wife, that this was not the case. While he had some medical problem involving his meatballs, it was revealed that it was completely unrelated to being burned. The incident was chalked up to Ramsay's dry sense of humor, and embarrassment at his aging body.
In a New Yorker profile, Ramsay admitted to.....
Maja Seif is a freelance writer residing in the Sacramento, California area. Holder of a B.A. in Journalism, she has published feature articles in Outword Magazine and has experience writing political news and opinion pieces, as well as marketing material. Reality television is one of her favorite diversions, so writing for Reality TV Calendar is a perfect combination of two of her hobbies. You can reach her at: maja.m.seif@gmail.com
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