Actress Siobhan Thompson Accuses Mario Batali of Harassment

Siobhan Thompson has added her voice to the four women who told Eater NY that they had experienced inappropriate touching from Mario Batali. The actress told CBS This Morning that while working as a hostess at a Batali property, the chef and TV star Batali groped her. Per CBS, Batali allegedly “inappropriately touched her breasts.”

Over on Twitter, Thompson shared her experiences working at Del Posto, Batali’s highly acclaimed Italian fine-dining destination in New York City. She said Batali was “very handsy.”

As journalist Lisa Abend points out, Thompson is the first woman to use her name on the record with accusations of misconduct against Batali: “Probably not an accident that the first woman to go on the record with an accusation against Batali is no longer in the restaurant industry.”

In the wake of the Batali revelations — not considered all that revelatory by many food-world insiders — the chef has “stepped away” from operations at his restaurants. The chef has dropped out or been replaced at various events nationwide; stores (and even some of his restaurants) have started removing his products from shelves; and Food Network has put plans to relaunch his show Molto Mario on hold.

But as Boston chef-restaurateur Tiffani Faison told Eater: “For every Mario Batali, for every Kevin Spacey, for every Al Franken, as much as you liked them or believed in them, there’s someone right behind them that’s just as talented, just as capable, that’s going to be just as inspiring, that’s not actively hurting people.”

• Actress Siobhan Thompson accuses Mario Batali of groping her [CBS]
• Mario Batali Steps Away From Restaurant Empire Following Sexual Misconduct Allegations [ENY]