Celebrity chef and restaurateur George Calombaris may be generating headlines for all the wrong reasons, but he still has the support of Network Ten, where he features as a judge on its Masterchef program.
Calombaris is in the midst of a scandal after it was found his business underpaid his workers by $7.8m, and was fined just $200,000. There have subsequently been called for him to be ousted from Masterchef, however Ten has indicated this is not on the cards.
“George and Made Establishment have reached an agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman in relation to this matter. George has the support of Network 10. We will not be making any further comment,” a Ten spokesperson told Mumbrella.
Nine-owned masthead The Good Weekend is also facing criticism, as it ran Calombaris on its cover over the weekend, with an image above his head similar to a halo.
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Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland admitted the cover story was terrible timing, noting the magazine had been put to bed before the ruling emerged.
“I know I know, George Calombaris on the cover. Not ideal – the perils of early print deadlines,” Strickland wrote on Instagram.
“But this cover story is not about George per se – it’s about an important issue in the restaurant industry: chefs, mental health, untimely deaths, and attempts at last to do something about it. To do nothing less than save lives.”
It’s not the first time the chef come television celebrity has been on the receiving end of negative publicity.
In 2017, he was charged with common assault following an incident at the A-League grand final. He was initially fined $1,000, however last year he had the conviction overturned. It is understood Calombaris lost around $750,000 in sponsorships and partnerships as a result of the assault and surrounding controversy.