US celebrity chef Mario Batali acquitted of sexual assaulting woman
- The judge said accuser Natali Tene, who alleged that the chef of forcibly groped her while posing for a selfie, had ‘significant credibility issues’
- The trial was the only criminal case brought against Batali from among multiple #MeToo-era accusations made against him
Chef Mario Batali was acquitted on Tuesday of sexually assaulting a woman at a Boston bar in 2017 while posing with her for fan selfie photos in the latest of a handful of #MeToo era trials involving US celebrities accused of misconduct toward women.
In the non-jury trial, Judge James Stanton of Boston Municipal Court found Batali, 61, not guilty of a charge of indecent assault and battery brought in 2019, saying the accuser had “significant credibility issues”.
Batali displayed no visible reaction as the verdict was announced and left the courtroom surrounded by reporters without making a comment. If convicted, Batali could have faced up to 2½ years in jail and registration as a sex offender.
The trial was the only criminal case brought against Batali, once a fixture of the popular Food Network and a star of the ABC cooking and talk show The Chew, from among multiple #MeToo-era accusations made by women against the celebrity chef.
In the trial, accuser Natali Tene, 32, testified on Monday that Batali forcibly groped her breasts, buttocks and crotch area before inviting her back to his hotel room while drunkenly posing for selfies with her at a bar near Boston’s Eataly, the Italian market and restaurant he at the time part owned.
Tene said she was initially “shocked” and “embarrassed” about the incident and came forward only after the website Eater.com in December 2017 detailed allegations by four women who also said Batali had touched them inappropriately over at least two decades.
