Four Teamster union members have been found not guilty in an extortion case involving Top Chef. On Monday, Boston-based Local 25 union members John Fidler, Daniel Redmond, Robert Cafarelli and Michael Ross were acquitted on counts of conspiracy to extort and attempted extortion, as reported by Boston Globe reporter Maria Cramer inside the court room. The four men were initially accused of disrupting the filming of Top Chef, threatening the crew and demanding the non-union production company agree to hire Local 25 members, Boston station Wcvb previously reported. The case stemmed from a June 2014 confrontation between the Teamsters and the show's non-union production...
- 8/15/2017
- E! Online
Four Teamsters — of the truck driver’s union — have been found not guilty in the U.S. District Court of all federal charges of attempting to extort jobs from the show “Top Chef” when it filmed in Boston in 2014. The four men (Daniel Redmond, 49; John Fidler, 53; Robert Cafarelli, 47; and Michael Ross, 63), who belong to the Charlestown-based Teamsters Local 25, were accused of conspiring to extort “Top Chef” producers into giving them jobs and driving equipment in and around the Boston area. “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi had previously testified that she was “terrified” when approached by the men. Prosecutors...
- 8/15/2017
- by Ashley Boucher
- The Wrap
Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi testified in a federal trial today and detailed her frightening encounter with angry Teamster union members. Boston-based Local 25 union members John Fidler, Daniel Redmond, Robert Cafarelli and Michael Ross are accused of threatening to disrupt the filming of Top Chef if the non-union production company did not agree to hire union laborers, Boston station Wcvb reported. The men have pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion. The accusation stems from a confrontation between Teamsters and the show's non-union production company's crew at a Boston-area restaurant where they were filming scenes for the...
- 8/7/2017
- E! Online
Padma Lakshmi testified in Boston federal court on Monday, confirming a Top Chef producer’s earlier declaration that members of the Teamsters Union Local 25 threatened the host in 2014 while protesting the reality show.
The 46-year-old said that one of the four Teamsters picketing outside Milton, Massachusetts, restaurant Steel & Rye – where the Bravo series was filming at the time – leaned his arm into her vehicle while it was blocked, and said, ” ‘Oh, lookie here. What a shame about that pretty face,’ ” according to Boston Herald reporter Laurel Sweet.
“I felt like he was bullying me, like he was telling me he was going to hit me.
The 46-year-old said that one of the four Teamsters picketing outside Milton, Massachusetts, restaurant Steel & Rye – where the Bravo series was filming at the time – leaned his arm into her vehicle while it was blocked, and said, ” ‘Oh, lookie here. What a shame about that pretty face,’ ” according to Boston Herald reporter Laurel Sweet.
“I felt like he was bullying me, like he was telling me he was going to hit me.
- 8/7/2017
- by Lindsay Kimble
- PEOPLE.com
This week, stars and production staff from Top Chef are in a Boston courtroom recounting the alleged threats and racial slurs they were subjected to by four members of Teamsters Union Local 25 during a shoot for the show.
The scary situation allegedly unfolded outside of a Milton, Massachusetts restaurant back in 2014, amid protests by the local Teamsters who wanted to be hired as drivers for the nonunion show.
Here’s everything you need to know about the ongoing extortion trial – which kicked off Tuesday – surrounding those events.
Teamsters surrounded Padma Lakshmi’s car and threatened her lifeThough host Lakshmi, herself,...
The scary situation allegedly unfolded outside of a Milton, Massachusetts restaurant back in 2014, amid protests by the local Teamsters who wanted to be hired as drivers for the nonunion show.
Here’s everything you need to know about the ongoing extortion trial – which kicked off Tuesday – surrounding those events.
Teamsters surrounded Padma Lakshmi’s car and threatened her lifeThough host Lakshmi, herself,...
- 8/3/2017
- by Lindsay Kimble
- PEOPLE.com
A Top Chef producer testified in Boston federal court that she was the subject of racist taunts and host Padma Lakshmi was physically threatened when four members of the Teamsters Union were picketing outside a restaurant where the show was filming in 2014.
Supervising producer Ellie Carbajal told the jury Wednesday that the teamsters, who Deadline reports are accused of trying to extort the show for driving jobs, “swarmed vehicle and surrounded it.”
According to Deadline, one of the men said to the others with his face just inches from the host’s car window, “That’s the pretty one. We...
Supervising producer Ellie Carbajal told the jury Wednesday that the teamsters, who Deadline reports are accused of trying to extort the show for driving jobs, “swarmed vehicle and surrounded it.”
According to Deadline, one of the men said to the others with his face just inches from the host’s car window, “That’s the pretty one. We...
- 8/3/2017
- by Stephanie Petit
- PEOPLE.com
Four Teamsters members in Boston are being charged with attempting to extort jobs from Top Chef producers. Top Chef Extorton Trial Begins<h2? The trial began this week in Boston, in which Robert Cafarelli, John Fidler, Daniel Remond, and Michael Ross are being accused of spitting threats and homophobic and racist remarks at crew members of the Bravo show. Prosecutors are […]
Source: uInterview
The post ‘Top Chef’ Extortion Trial Begins In Boston, Host Padma Lakshmi To Testify appeared first on uInterview.
Source: uInterview
The post ‘Top Chef’ Extortion Trial Begins In Boston, Host Padma Lakshmi To Testify appeared first on uInterview.
- 8/2/2017
- by Hillary Luehring-Jones
- Uinterview
Four Boston Teamsters who allegedly terrorized the cast and crew of Top Chef back in 2014 will go on trial this summer on charges that they tried to extort jobs on Bravo’s hit TV show. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock today set July 31 as the start date for the trial of Local 25 members Michael Ross, John Fidler, Robert Calarelli and Daniel Redmond. Mark Harrington, the local's former secretary-treasurer, pleaded guilty to the same charges in December and is…...
- 1/27/2017
- Deadline TV
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