The Food Network star, 54, recently appeared on Samah Dada’s YouTube show, “On the Menu,” and recalled asking now-disgraced chef Mario Batali to write the foreword for her 2005 cookbook, “Everyday Italian.” However, Batali’s comments in the book were far from kind.

Batali, who rose to fame as the host of Food Network's "Molto Mario" from 1996 to 2004 and as co-host of the former ABC daytime cooking show "The Chew" from 2011 to 2017, came under public scrutiny after being accused of sexual misconduct in December 2017, amid the #MeToo movement.