Taylor Swift live updates: Will she perform with Kendrick Lamar at Super Bowl halftime show?
Follow Page Six’s live updates for all the latest Taylor Swift news, photos and more.
Read more >> : Cick here
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Gino DâAcampo responds to bombshell inappropriate behaviour allegations
TV chef is accused of â??unacceptableâ??, â??distressingâ?? and â??horrendousâ?? treatment
Click Here to read in detail
Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy
Television chef Gino DâAcampo has denied a string of claims he made sexualised comments and gestures to female employees behind the scenes of his popular programmes.
ITV News reports dozens of former staff and freelances have detailed alleged experiences they described as âunacceptableâ, âdistressingâ and âhorrendousâ while working with him over a period of more than 12 years.
One woman claimed that in 2019 she saw the celebrity chef â a regular on ITV show This Morning â appearing to threaten a colleague over an ice cream.
âI was present when Gino said to the runner, âIf you donât get me a Cornetto I will f*** your girlfriendâ,â she said.
âI felt appalled, disgusted, embarrassed and very angry.â
Another female crew member told ITV News he was âusing his power to bully and intimidate us. For what? A cookery programmeâ.
Chef Gino DâAcampoâs cookery programmes include There's No Taste Like Home , Let's Do Lunch , and Gino's Italian EscapeMr D'Acampoâs cookery programmes include There's No Taste Like Home, Let's Do Lunch, and Gino's Italian Escape.
His legal team said he was mortified to be accused of saying inappropriate words to a junior member of staff on Ginoâs Italian Express. âHe does not recall this incident at all, and the words alleged are absolutely not ones that he would say,â they said.
Another woman claimed that on a magazine shoot in 2011, DâAcampo told her in front of the crew that he wanted to turn her over and âf*** me up the a***â.
She told ITV News she remembered âa ripple of laughsâ but said nobody objected to the comment, although she felt âhorrorâ and âshockâ.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Try for freeWatch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Try for freeShe said: âI definitely saw it as some kind of power play. The very act of what he said was aggressive.â
She added: âI felt like Gino, in that moment, was very entitled and he felt very safe.â
Mr D'Acampo's legal team told ITV News he did not recall the incident, nor accepted that it happened. âMr DâAcampo is horrified to be accused of âpower playâ and an âaggressive actâ. He emphatically and unequivocally denies these allegations.â
A third woman said that when she went to brief Mr DâAcampo on a location shoot, âhe opened the door in his boxer shorts, nothing elseâ.
She added that he âjumped on the bed and was sort of - leg up.
âWe had to sort of sit there facing him and he made, you know, reference to his d***.â
She said she felt disgusted, adding: âI see it all as quite aggressive, really.â
She said it made her consider leaving her job because she didn't want to be near him.
Mr D'Acampo's legal team said: âMr DâAcampo categorically denies these allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
âTo his knowledge no such allegations have been made against him in relation to his time on Ginoâs Italian Express and this is the first time, six years later, he has been informed of these alleged incidents, and he does not accept them, not least because some of this is considered by Mr DâAcampo to be a fabricated work of fiction.â
Other claims relate to comments allegedly made while filming Gordon, Gino and Fredâs Road Trip.
ITV News reports that it has seen evidence concerns were raised with production company Objective Media Group over sexualised comments, and an email was sent in December last year. The response from Objective Media said DâAcampo was âspoken to about the differences between on screen character material and behaviour off screen with members of the teamâ.
Objective Media Group said it took the welfare and wellbeing of production staff âincredibly seriouslyâ and had âbehavioural clauses in talent contractsâ.
Gino DâAcampo said in a statement he would not do anything that he thought would upset or distress anyoneResponding to all the claims, Mr D'Acampo said: âI have never been made aware of these matters previously and the allegations are firmly denied. I would not do anything that I thought would upset or distress anyone. This is simply not in my nature. I do not recognise the version of events being put to me.
âNot only have these allegations never been raised with me before, I have been repeatedly supported by executives at the highest level and was commissioned on prime-time programmes during the period in which it is now suggested I was acting inappropriately.
âI take such matters extremely seriously and the suggestion that I have acted in an improper way against is deeply upsetting.â
A spokesperson from ITV, which airs the celebrity chefâs shows, said in a statement to ITV News that it is âproduction companies who have the primary responsibility for the duty of care of everyone they work with, both on and off screen, when making shows.â
They went on to say that all of the concerns and complaints in this investigation âdescribe behaviour which is inappropriate and unacceptable. Most of them were not reported to ITV at the time. Where issues have been raised with ITV action has been taken.â
The Independent has asked his management company for comment.
