# More, 'Beware of your heroes' (Alton Brown) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 17, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793 "2020-11-17T14:03:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/21 "2020-11-17T18:00:50Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It’s little silly to be shocked that a white guy from Georgia has voted Republican in the past. Well, this isn’t about whether AB is a Republican. > [@Lancia](#): > > But _GE_ is old news by now. I haven’t had cable or satellite for years, but from what I understand his TV persona has morphed from a kind of goofy science teacher into an angry judgmental prick. Perhaps his early _GE_ persona was all for show, or maybe he’s just become bitter and angry as he ages. [The article notes he made a joke to a kid: “If that guy next to you is your _other_ daddy, I’m in the _wrong_ state.” I don’t get it, but it sounds like a pedo joke.] I noticed he was jollier when he was fat. He went vegan for a while. Perhaps that broke him. He’s thin and angry now. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/22 "2020-11-17T18:02:37Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Well, this isn’t about whether AB is a Republican. Your Op hardly made that clear. you can’t really complain. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/23 "2020-11-17T18:02:51Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Well, this isn’t about whether AB is a Republican. Well, it’s about two things. He “came out” as Republican and then made a terribly insensitive joke about the reaction to that. He apologized for the joke so… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/24 "2020-11-17T18:13:51Z")
I’ve been watching some of his Tuesday night live streams on YouTube. He drinks a lot during them and seems to blow his top. But it doesn’t seem vicious or mean. He’s very angry about Trump. He went on a rant about how he had been a conservative republican his whole life and how he still considered himself a conservative Republican. And I think I’ve known that for years. He gad been spotted with his family in restaurants saying grace before eating. But maybe he has been changing since his divorce because he does not hold back his contempt for Trump and the Republicans that have facilitated him for the last few years. I might not agree with him on a lot of specific issues but he seems like a generally earnest guy. And I doubt he is a closet antisemite or racist, I mean not more than most people anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/25 "2020-11-17T19:04:44Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > There was a time some years ago when I’d watch Food Network and ‘Good Eats’ was among my favorite shows because it was _science-y_ . I liked the nostalgia of him going back to re-do some of those shows with an updated format. As a cooking show host, AB was more interesting than most. That’s the thing; I watched Good Eats on Food Network back when it was on the air and enjoyed it, for the silly skits and the science aspects. Some of the guests, like [Shirley Corriher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Corriher), were fun and informative. His politics never seemed to play a part in the show, so it didn’t matter that he was a gun-toting Baptist Republican. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/26 "2020-11-17T19:09:49Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Your Op hardly made that clear. you can’t really complain. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That’s the thing; I watched Good Eats on Food Network back when it was on the air and enjoyed it, for the silly skits and the science aspects. Some of the guests, like [Shirley Corriher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Corriher), were fun and informative. His politics never seemed to play a part in the show, so it didn’t matter that he was a gun-toting Baptist Republican. Right. It seems I failed to make that clear in the OP when I didn’t provide that disclaimer. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/27 "2020-11-17T19:23:18Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > [The article notes he made a joke to a kid: “If that guy next to you is your _other_ daddy, I’m in the _wrong_ state.” I don’t get it, but it sounds like a pedo joke.] Sounds more like an anti-same sex marriage joke; if you have two fathers, I’m in a state with same-sex marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/28 "2020-11-17T19:30:04Z")
Ok, that makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/29 "2020-11-17T20:04:44Z")
So, if he voted for Biden/Harris, then wasn’t his reference either, 1. making fun of Trumpists who are spreading that sort of panicky drivel about a Biden administration, or 2. comparing Trump to Hitler, in a scenario where Trump stays in power? I’m not sure without more context where he was going with them. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/30 "2020-11-17T21:08:25Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Alton Brown’s own private holocaust: > [Food Network Host Alton Brown Comes Out as Republican, Makes Tasteless Holocaust Tweets](https://www.thedailybeast.com/foot-network-host-alton-brown-comes-out-as-republican-makes-tasteless-holocaust-tweets) I think it’s a little unfair to blast him just for admitting to be a religious conservative life-long Republican. He has been very vocal about his disgust at Trump and the Republican leadership support for him. He’s blasted lower-level Trumpist politicians. I’d like to believe I live in a country in which there is a kind of religious conservative Republican that I can live with as a fellow countryman. Alton Brown seems like he is that kind of guy. He’s a life-long Republican religious conservative who used his national platform to tell everyone he was disgusted with the Republicans and he was voting for the Democratic nominees for president and Senate. I can accept that. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/31 "2020-11-17T21:34:16Z")
I think he was saying that conservative Christians are the new repressed minority and will be treated like Jews in nazi Germany. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/32 "2020-11-17T21:43:52Z")
Meh. I’m more concerned that the newer Good Eats episodes seem to lack something. Still, the remastered old episodes seem to still whatever it is, so I’ll keep watching. I also like his clips on YouTube. And I very much understand having some temper issues–especially related to Trump. And I live around Republican Bible Thumpers–the only ones I am upset with are those who found some way to support Trump, or, possibly even worse, not wearing a mask. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/33 "2020-11-17T21:45:53Z")
He struck me as a mediocre cook with a cool gimmick to share, just never warmed up to the guy and never understood the adulation. Sounds like a prick. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/34 "2020-11-17T21:47:13Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > He’s a life-long Republican religious conservative who used his national platform to tell everyone he was disgusted with the Republicans and he was voting for the Democratic nominees for president and Senate. I can accept that. He’s not even a religious conservative, he said he left religion a few years ago because he was too socially liberal: > **[Alton Brown Opens Up About His 2015 Divorce and Leaving the Southern Baptist...](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/alton-brown-opens-2015-divorce-142747461.html)** > > Alton Brown Opens Up 2015 Divorce and His Religion ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/35 "2020-11-17T21:47:42Z")
Yup, arrogant guy is arrogant and anti-Semitic. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/36 "2020-11-17T21:49:13Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I think he was saying that conservative Christians are the new repressed minority and will be treated like Jews in nazi Germany. Based on the quotes in the article alone? Do you have any context for them? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/37 "2020-11-17T21:53:01Z")
I don’t need more context than he provided, he decided to make light of the Holocaust for some inane reason, that’s enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/38 "2020-11-17T22:02:14Z")
To… come up with any ole reason he told the jokes? Alton has been very anti-Trump lately, as mentioned. In the comments on his Kitchen Quarantine it comes up from time to time - conservative fans annoyed he puts his anti-Trump comments in the videos. A lot of them blame his wife, who is very liberal by all accounts, for moving Alton leftward. It appears that most of the replies on his Twitter apology see those Tweets as Alton being worried about Trump trying to steal power. He’s not the first person who’s made the Trump = Hitler comparison and I don’t think he’ll be the last. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/39 "2020-11-17T22:06:29Z")
I think we’re just guessing the actual content of the tweets in question? Anyway, religious conservatives and neo-Nazis are constantly comparing themselves to victims of the Holocaust. My guess would be that he was mocking such comparisons, not mocking the Holocaust. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793/40 "2020-11-17T22:22:04Z")
> **[Alton Brown Comes Out as Republican, Fires Off Tasteless Holocaust Tweets](https://www.thedailybeast.com/foot-network-host-alton-brown-comes-out-as-republican-makes-tasteless-holocaust-tweets)** > > Inside the celebrity chef’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week online. > **[Alton Brown Apologizes for ‘Flippant’ Holocaust Tweets](https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/11/alton-brown-apologizes-for-flippant-holocaust-tweets.html)** > > Twitter users quickly pointed out how insensitive the Food Network star’s comments were. > Alton Brown is [apologizing](https://twitter.com/altonbrown/status/1326559420533321733) this morning after a series of tweets last night in which he made multiple references to the Holocaust. In a since-deleted tweet commenting on the state of the country, Brown [asked](https://twitter.com/YesYoureRacist/status/1326538518915547136), “Do you think the camp uniforms will be striped, like the ones at Auschwitz or will plaid be in vogue?” When a user replied that it would depend on how much one was “worth” going in, Brown added, [more graphically](https://twitter.com/altonbrown/status/1326356385978789892), that he has “no gold fillings.” When yet another user replied, “Yikes dude. Take it easy,” Brown [responded](https://twitter.com/altonbrown/status/1326356883523899395) with a blunt “Fuck you.” > In his apology message, Brown says that the Holocaust comment “was not a reference I made for humorous effect but rather to reflect how deeply frightened I am for our country. It was a very poor use of judgement and in poor taste.” Okay, this is not evidence of anti-Semitism. Alton Brown perhaps unwisely use Holocaust references to express his fears about the continuing rise of neo-Nazis and fascist authoritarianism in the United States. It’s a pretty straightforward comparison, and one I have made. His language was perhaps a bit too crude. I myself have often compared the rise of Trumpism to the rise of Nazism. It’s an appropriate comparison in my view. Fearing what might come next is reasonable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-beware-of-your-heroes-alton-brown/925793.md?page=3)