Food Network Freezes Plans to Release New ‘Molto Mario’ Episodes After Sexual Misconduct Allegations

In light of the sexual misconduct allegations lodged against Mario Batali from four women — three of whom worked at the chef’s restaurant group over the years — the Food Network is freezings its plans to revive Molto Mario. “Food Network takes matters like this very seriously and we are putting relaunch plans for Molto Mario on hold,” a rep tells Eater this morning.

Last month, the Food Network announced that it had filmed six new episodes of Molto Mario, the program that made Batali a household name, with plans to air them in 2018. The 75 episodes of the original show, which Batali filmed in the late ’90s and early 2000s, were in heavy rotation on the Food Network for years. Molto Mario propelled Batali to national fame and paved the way for many more television projects, including the Food Network’s Iron Chef America and PBS’s Spain... on the Road Again. Over the last two decades, Batali has also made countless appearances on morning and late night shows.

In other TV-related Batali news, ABC asked the chef to step away from his long-running daytime talk show The Chew, while the network reviews the information about the sexual misconduct allegations. Stay tuned for more updates on the media fallout from the Batali sexual harassment revelations as they become available.

• Mario Batali Steps Away From Restaurant Empire Following Sexual Misconduct Allegations [ENY]
• Mario Batali Brings Back ‘Molto Mario’ for Six New Episodes [E]