If there’s one person who really loves to have a good, shady row in public, it’s celebrity and world-class chef Gordon Ramsay. While his temper is famously memorialized on shows he hosts like Kitchen Nightmares and Hotel Hell, that temper might come back again in his new show, The F Word. Of course, The F Word looks like it’s going to be a bit more light-hearted than his earlier shows, but hey, if his history of famous feuds is anything to go by, then a flare-up could happen at any time.
Looking at his track record, Ramsay’s been in the center of some very famous feuds in his time. Mostly, Ramsay has been ready to pick a bone or two or throw some shade at a plethora of other famous chefs — he even went to court over one particularly nasty incident with his father-in-law.
Get the 411 on all Ramsay’s run-ins over the years here.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Jamie Oliver
It’s been a war of the words between Jamie Oliver and Ramsay for years now. It would seem that every time Ramsay says something, no matter how inflammatory it may be, Oliver is close behind with criticism. Oliver has taken issue in the past with Ramsay’s remarks about an Indian guru on his travel series, Gordon’s Great Escape. Apparently, on the show, Ramsay “referred to an Indian guru as ‘Father Christmas'” and used obscenities while in his presence.
This isn’t the first time the two have tussled in public. Oliver and Ramsay have traded barbs over who is the better chef. Ramsay’s rude remarks about a female Australian reporter resembling a pig caused Oliver to try to correct him for his rudeness. Finally, in 2010, Oliver delivered a scathing line about Ramsay’s wife, Tana, being a better cook than him and encouraging the public to buy her book instead of Ramsay’s. Ouch.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Anthony Bourdain
Ramsay may have met his match when he decided to get into it with chef Anthony Bourdain. The two alpha males butted heads when Ramsay sought out a copyright in the U.K. for the name “The Spotted Pig,” which was already in use by restaurant owners April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman. While it appeared Ramsay wanted to secure the rights but not use the name, Bourdain was pissed off enough to fire off a few salty tweets in favor of Bloomfield and Friedman on the matter.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Marcus Samuelsson
In his memoirs, Samuelsson recalled a time when Ramsay called him an incredibly insensitive and borderline racist name (not stated here for sensitivity concerns) for not naming Ramsay one of the best chefs. What the hell, Ramsay? Samuelsson wrote further about how he really felt: “In the years since, I haven’t felt a need to make myself available when a mutual friend brought Gordon into my restaurant, or go out of my way to be his friend. I have better things to do.”
Gordon Ramsay vs. Mario Batali
2008 was a hot year for Ramsay and Batali. Ramsay once referred to Batali as “Fanta pants” after the bright orange soda, most likely because Batali wears bright-colored clothing. In a somewhat unrelated move, Batali banned Ramsay from his restaurants and Ramsay called rumors of their shady feud “cow shit.” So charming.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Jacques Pépin
Famed chef Jacques Pépin hasn’t had many kind things to say about Ramsay, including these remarks about his TV show Hell’s Kitchen: “I wasn’t crazy about Hell’s Kitchen.[…] When I saw a show like that where everyone is yelling, everyone gets terrorized, there is no way you can produce great food under that type of condition. You cannot give of yourself.”
Pépin would double down on these comments some years later when in 2016 he proceeded to throw Ramsay under the bus again when writing that reality cooking shows full of drama and shouting tend to get in the way of good food. “In these reality shows, the confrontation and the bitter drama are not conducive to producing good food,” Pépin wrote. “No one seems to agree on anything, and there are ongoing clashes between the employees, without much evidence of what makes a kitchen work.” Yeesh.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Éric Ripert
Chef Éric Ripert has seemingly never been a fan of Ramsay’s, with the latter’s borderline racist behavior really irking Ripert. In 2011, Ripert called some of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares words “abusive.” “Smart chefs lead kitchen by sharing, teaching, inspiring with respect. Not insulting, abusing, humiliating their team.”
Gordon Ramsay vs. José Andrés
It seems that Éric Ripert isn’t the only person embarrassed by Ramsay’s behavior on Kitchen Nightmares. In 2010, chef José Andrés tweeted out his dislike of Kitchen Nightmares, implying Ramsay was going overboard in his behavior and that he should have been leading by example, not critiquing in an extreme manner.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Miss Piggy
All right, so this feud may be more of a faux feud that was generally lighthearted, but hey — it still counts in my book. In order to build up some drama for her appearance on MasterChef Junior, Muppet Miss Piggy got into a Twitter feud with Ramsay that was meant to poke fun at both their tempers while getting audiences excited about the episode. In May, Ramsay tweeted, “I tend to eliminate the divas from my kitchens… maybe that will be you tomorrow night on [MasterChef Junior], Miss Piggy?” The picture of shady perfection, Miss Piggy replied, “A true diva like moi is contractually obligated to be difficult. You must be a diva, too. (Funny, I never see you at the meetings.)” Amazing.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Marco Pierre White
Ramsay was Marco Pierre White’s protégé, making this feud all the more bitter. According to their personal history, White gave Ramsay his first big professional break. Ramsay’s career took off and over the years the two men had bad run-ins with one another. Ramsay reportedly showed up to White’s wedding with a camera crew in tow — unbeknownst to White — and at another, Ramsay disparaged White’s skills as a restauranteur.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Chris Hutcheson
Ramsay and his father-in-law, Chris Hutcheson, have had more drama in their relationship than one might expect. Among the many accusations made against Hutcheson, one was that he withdrew about $2 million from Ramsay’s bank account to give to his mistress (Ramsay won that lawsuit). A more recent lawsuit against Hutcheson was from earlier in 2017, when Hutcheson stood accused of hacking into Ramsay’s computer after he was fired from his role in Ramsay’s empire as manager of business operations.
Gordon Ramsay vs. Marcus Wareing
Wareing is famously on record as saying, “If I never speak to that guy again for the rest of my life. It wouldn’t bother me one bit” in regard to Ramsay. Once close friends, these two chefs left their friendship in the courtroom. The two went into business together, opening up and running their restaurant, The Berkeley, together. It sounds like Wareing may have wanted out when the lease was up for renewal, claiming he wanted to be his own man, but Ramsay was so miffed he took him to court over it.
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