Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives lawsuit

[joebuck20]

Interesting story in the current issue of Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages about Page Productions, which produces Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. They filed suit against the Food Network earlier this year after the channel canceled Page’s contract to produce a couple of more seasons. David Page, owner of the company, alleges that the network canceled the contract at the behest of Guy Fieri.

http://www.citypages.com/2011-10-12/restaurants/guy-fieri-in-diners-drive-ins-and-disasters/all/

Anyway he doesn’t have too many nice things to say about Guy. Among other things, he made this claim:

“You have to protect Guy from all of his poop jokes,” Page says. “Anytime any woman mentioned ‘cream,’ Guy went into a sexual riff. When cutting the show, you had to tell the editors to watch Guy’s eye line, because it’s always on breasts.”

Fieri also needed protection from homosexuals, or at least advance warning. Early in the show’s run, Page got a phone call from Fieri, who’d just walked out of a restaurant in a huff.

“Guy had decided that the two men running the restaurant were life partners,” Page remembers. “He said, ‘You can’t send me to talk to gay people without warning! Those people weird me out!’”

From then on, show researchers were required to note any indications of homosexuality detected during pre-interviews. (Fieri declined to comment for this story through his spokespeople.)

In Guy’s defense, though, Page doesn’t exactly sound like he’s the most pleasant person in the world to work for:

Before the lawsuit was settled, the network had much more to say in court papers. According to the network’s countersuit, Page can be blunt bordering on brutal.

In one email the network submitted as evidence, Page calls an employee “a vile uninformed piece of shit.” Another email refers to a colleague as “one fucked up dumbass loser.” In a particularly dark passage, Page wishes death on an employee who disagrees with him: “I hope you die so I can dance on your fucking grave.”

[Happy_Lendervedder]

I don’t know Guy personally, but I’ve watched a lot of DD&D, as well as his cooking show, and based on what parts of his personality *do *come through the camera, I’d have no problem believing those statements about him. I’ve known a lot of guys that have similar douchey qualities that he does, and they’re obsessed with sex/poop humor and are gay-phobic meatheads.

[Sea_Creature_Turner]

Plus, he criticizes the Jews.

[Quimby]

I always thought Guy was a D-bag from way back when he was on Food Network Star Season 2 so I choose to believe everything in that story.

[Covered_In_Bees]

Those all sound like believable claims about Guy from my experience with the show as well.

[No_umlaut_for_U]

Too bad. They SO deserve each other.

[An_Gadai]

I quite like the show, and I’ve honestly never detected any of the d-baggery that I see referred to a lot on here and elsewhere online. He’s a bit “dude”-ish but he seems to know what he’s talking about cuisine-wise and in many episodes he has a real rapport with disparate people. The only time I saw him being jerkish was with a chef who seemed to be trying to steal the limelight.

If he’s a sexist homophobe then I’m sad as it’s the only food-related show I enjoy watching.

[Covered_In_Bees]

He’s a bit “dude”-ish

There’s your douchebaggery., which doesn’t mean he was being mean or a jerk to anyone. Just general “frat boy” humor and such.

[An_Gadai]

@Covered_In_Bees

There’s your douchebaggery., which doesn’t mean he was being mean or a jerk to anyone. Just general “frat boy” humor and such.

I dunno, i know a few dudey guys in real life and some are sound, some not. I don’t think the demeanour is a necessary indicator of baggery of a douchish nature.

[Alice_The_Goon]

Well, duh- his hair is the universal symbol for “I’m a douchebag.”

[Covered_In_Bees]

What else does being a douchebad involve?

[tumbleddown]

The very fact that his last name isn’t “Fieri” with his bizarre hyper-Italianized mispronunciation that comes out sounding like “feety,” but is, in fact, the dirt common “Ferry” is enough for me to feel pretty sure that Guy is, in fact, a giant douchecanoe.

[running_coach]

@tumbleddown

The very fact that his last name isn’t “Fieri” with his bizarre hyper-Italianized mispronunciation that comes out sounding like “feety,” but is, in fact, the dirt common “Ferry” is enough for me to feel pretty sure that Guy is, in fact, a giant douchecanoe.

From here.

Why did Guy change his last name from Ferry to Fieri?
Guy changed his name when he got married in 1995; he wanted to honor his immigrant grandfather. blog post Guy’s great-grandfather’s name was Giuseppe Fieri. video

The change occurred many years before beginning his FoodTV career. There are news articles going back to November of 1996 listing “Guy Fieri” (and not “Guy Ferry”) as an owner of Johnny Garlic’s.

Moreover, Fieri is correctly pronounced with a rolled “r,” known to linguists as the alveolar trill, as in the Spanish, Italian or Russian languages. The best approximation for a rolled “r” by Americans and the English is to use a “d-” or soft “t-,” as in Fieddi or Fietti. See trivia questions.

As much as he’s accused of being a douchebag, I’ve never heard anything to indicate he’s an ass towards people.
If he turns out to be a homophobe, that would be quite sad.

[Happy_Lendervedder]

@Alice_The_Goon

Well, duh- his hair is the universal symbol for “I’m a douchebag.”

Well that and the shades on the back of the head.

And the “hyper-dude” set on his cooking show. I mean, he has car chases and spaghetti Westerns on a constant loop on the TV in the background. And a giant NASCAR fridge. :rolleyes:

But I still watch it. He cooks interesting things. And I love drive-ins, and diners and dives.

[loshan]

I have a friend whose restaurant was featured on DD&D. He said Guy was indeed a douche, and further, that he was only in the restaurant for about 2 hours total over 3 days of filming.

His definition of douchbaggery: 1. Did not speak to him or his staff unless cameras were rolling. 2. …except for the hot cocktail waitress he ogled the entire small amount of time he was actually in the restaurant. 3. Yelled at production staff and made “off-color and gross” comments.

[Acsenray]

@Alice_The_Goon

Well, duh- his hair is the universal symbol for “I’m a douchebag.”

Yes!

@tumbleddown

The very fact that his last name isn’t “Fieri” with his bizarre hyper-Italianized mispronunciation that comes out sounding like “feety,”

Yes twice!

@Happy_Lendervedder

Well that and the shades on the back of the head.

Yes thrice!

All these things had him pegged as a douchebag in my view, and I think I’ve mentioned them all before on these boards.

Moreover, Fieri is correctly pronounced with a rolled “r,” known to linguists as the alveolar trill, as in the Spanish, Italian or Russian languages. The best approximation for a rolled “r” by Americans and the English is to use a “d-” or soft “t-,” as in Fieddi or Fietti. See trivia questions.

If you can’t pronounce a rolled R properly, then it’s douchebaggery to try to approximate it with “a ‘d-’ or soft ‘t-’” when there’s no reason to. For example, when you’re not actually speaking Italian.

[Gangster_Octopus]

Meh, I don’t know if he is a douche or not, don’t care. I’ve never been to Johnny Garlic’s even though it is pretty close. But I did love D3. Whenever I am going to a new city for whatever reason I look up what restaurants have been featured on D3 and “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”.

[Onomatopoeia]

I’m not the demographic for DD&D as it promotes, for the most part, very unhealthy eating. However, I have seen the show probably more than a handful of times.

That said, Guy being a homophobe is a deal-breaker for me. I’ll make a point of never watching the show again …not that he nor the Food Network will miss me.

[joebuck20]

The comments on the story I posted in the OP are pretty interesting. They don’t have a whole lot to say about Guy, other than him being a standard, garden variety douchebag, but they do seem to back up the story’s assertions about David Page being a grade-A asshole.

The first time I met David Page, he criticized my looks. The second sentence out of his mouth was to ridicule my name. This was my second day of working on ‘The Triple D’. The guy is a loud, piggish, horrible human being. Working in Hollywood was a peach in comparison.

And

How should one define ‘intolerable work environment’? Is there a character limit to these posts??

David Page was in the right place at the right time when he was handed the talent of Guy Fieri. Guy should have been on television long before winning food network star.

I work in this town, and word travels fast. There are MANY talented people in this town, and every single one of them told me to steer clear of that place when I was looking for work. But I have friends who have worked there, and I heard stories.

I get demanding ‘high standards’, but this is a dump-and-stir television show, and this is not the first time it has ever been done.

Ever had your boss tell you you’re a “dumb fuck?”
How about, “If you want to work for me, you will have to suck my dick?”

So I never put in my resume. I have dignity.

My friends are still on the show, and this is what I hear. This was never about Guy being too good for Page Productions, this was about Food Network and Guy sticking up for the people he works with. People lost their jobs in, yes, but it was never because of some conspiracy to oust David Page, this was about David Page being the person he is.

And City Pages running this story? Come on. Its like Fox News sharing a fair and balanced report. The story says some thing like “Page said some things, but then it was all good.”

Really??

[silenus]

@tumbleddown

The very fact that his last name isn’t “Fieri” with his bizarre hyper-Italianized mispronunciation that comes out sounding like “feety,” but is, in fact, the dirt common “Ferry” is enough for me to feel pretty sure that Guy is, in fact, a giant douchecanoe.

Anybody in the world has the right to not only chose their own name, but to pronounce it however they choose. To call someone a douchecanoe for doing so indicates douchebaggery all right, just not in the way intended.

So he’s an immature frat-boy asshole. Who cares? He cooks great food and finds neat joints. I’ll still watch anything he does for FN.