Mario Batali Accused of Sexually Assaulting Woman in Restaurant

Former employees at New York restaurant the Spotted Pig say investor Mario Batali and owner Ken Friedman would sexually harass and assault employees and guests there—including one Batali employee who said in a 60 Minutes interview that she may have been raped. Ex-employees at the restaurant told 60 Minutes that Batali was a “monster” who they would call the “Red Menace,” with one former waitress claiming Batali grabbed her breasts. A former bartender also said Friedman sexually assaulted her and requested she send “sexy pix.” Friedman also reportedly created a private party room on the third floor of the restaurant that had “no boundaries.” In this room, an employee of Batali’s Babbo restaurant claims she was drugged and possibly raped by the celebrity chef—telling 60 Minutes that she woke up in the next morning in the private room with scratches on her body and semen on her skirt after a night with the chef. Batali and Friedman both deny the allegations.