Allegations against Johnny Iuzzini derail Great American Baking Show

The ‘Great American Baking Show’, a spin off of the phenomenal hit series ‘The Great British Bake Off’, had just started its third season when news broke that one of the show’s hosts, pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini, was facing allegations of sexual misconduct. When parent company ABC heard about the allegations, it pulled the remaining episodes of the show. 

The program featured several amateur bakers along with co-hosts Iuzzini, Ayesha Curry, and former NFL star Anthony “Spice” Adams. ABC said it will not air the remaining episodes, and that it takes “matters such as those described in the allegations very seriously.” A total of eight women have come forward with accusations. Four of them, former employees who worked for Iuzzini in the pastry kitchen of restaurant Jean-Georges in New York City, described the work environment as “rampant with incidents of sexual harassment.”

Iuzzini issued a statement in which he said that the accusations were not accurate, although he expressed regret that the women did not feel comfortable coming to him as a manager to report any harassment. He also expressed disappointment that the bakers and staff of the ‘Great American Baking Show’ were harmed by the program’s cancellation.

This news follows reports of sexual harassment by Mario Batali, prompting the star chef to step away from his restaurant empire and was fired from the daytime cooking show ‘The Chew’. Today Batali sent an email of apology to his fans – and bizarrely included a recipe for cinnamon rolls following the apology.