Mario Batali under criminal investigation

Yesterday, a segment on the television news program 60 Minutes reported on the Mario Batali and Ken Friedman sexual harassment and abuse allegations. Parts of the show rehashed previously reported claims, but viewers also heard new information and allegations. The new accusations were chilling, and the New York Police Department confirmed to CBS News that Batali was the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. 

An anonymous former  employee at Batali’s restaurant Babbo alleges that in 2005, she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Batali at the Spotted Pig – the restaurant owned by Friedman and helmed by chef April Bloomfield. A former Spotted Pig bartender has alleged sexual abuse by Friedman, claiming that he assaulted her four years ago outside the restaurant. 

Following the program, yet another woman came forward with claims that Batali drugged and raped her at his Greenwich Village eatery in 2004. She says she went to the police this March, and the NYPD said that her claims are those that are undergoing police scrutiny.

In response to the program, chef Bloomfield said that she is in the final stages of severing her professional relationship with Friedman, and that she regrets not doing more to protect her staff. One of her former employees said that she doesn’t trust Bloomfield, saying, “I know other people went to April, and she did nothing to make them feel safe.”