As a kid (and still one at heart, enjoying and occasionally avoiding the rigours of graduate school), I had a hero-worship for Jeff Smith, the “Frugal Gourmet” of Public Television cooking fame. I would watch him every Saturday afternoon as part of WTTW Chicago’s cooking lineup with my mother and grandmother, and he was an essential part of my cultural education, stimulating interests in anthropology, theology, and of course gastronomy. I was shocked and saddened to learn several years ago that he had settled out of court (seemingly tantamount to admitting guilt) in a case involving sexual abuse charges from multiple plaintiffs. My heart says, “Say it ain’t so, Jeff!” but my mind wants to know the truth, which is apparently very hard to ascertain in this case because of ultra-restrictive confidentiality agreements. What’s the story here? Any information or opinions, thoughts from other fans, etc., would be greatly appreciated.
Just keep in mind that settling out of court is by no means tantamount to admitting guilt. There are a million reasons to settle, the biggest in this case to just get it out of the papers. I’m sure that was a major objective for Smith, whether or not the allegations were true. Remember also that it’s really hard to prove a negative, so even if Smith was/were innocent, he might still have lost the case.
Jeff Smith lives in the Seattle area now. He’s wheelchair bound due to some ailment (i forget which) and he is often seen in Pike’s Market shopping for ingerdients for food. A lot of people stop him for pictures and such.