Disgraced celebrity chef Mario Batali surprised a Boston courtroom on Monday when he asked a judge to waive his right to a jury in a criminal trial involving allegations of sexual assault.
Minutes later, his accuser took the stand and described a selfie near his since-closed Boston restaurant that descended into a nightmare of groping and nonconsensual kisses.
Batali, a former Food Network star, confirmed his decision to let Boston City Court Judge James Stanton decide his fate just before jury selection was due to begin Monday. The 61-year-old has pleaded not guilty to one charge of indecent assault and assault in an incident near his Boston restaurant in 2017.
“Absolutely,” Batali told Stanton Monday, indicating he understood what he was doing. He has pleaded not guilty.
Natalie Tene – who had previously put her name on the record as an alleged sexual assault victim – soon began to claim that what began with her secretly snapping a picture of Batali on April 1, 2017 ended in a crime.
Tene told the judge the incident began after Batali noticed that she was taking his picture and invited them to take one together.
Describing how she took about 10 selfies with Batali, she said the chef began touching her out of camera view. She also said that Batali’s eyes were closed in most of the photos, claiming “that guy was drunk at the time”.
“While this was happening, his hands were in sensitive areas, touching me, touching my body, so it was like a selfie, but other things were happening at the same time,” Tene told the court, noting that Batali kept telling her to ” make another one.”
Tene added that Batali “grabbed me in a way … I’ve never been touched like that before,” she said, hinting that he also “squeezed” her vagina.
“It touched my chest, touched my butt… touched my face… his tongue in my ear,” she added, noting that when the alleged attack took place, she was “really shocked, surprised, alarmed.”
“A lot just happened”
Batali has steadfastly denied any criminal conduct, despite at least four women taking action against the former TV chef, accusing him of sexual misconduct.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Anthony Fuller questioned Tene about whether she continued to take pictures with Batali despite the alleged assault.
Tene acknowledged there was a three-minute gap between some photos. However, she insisted she was shocked by the whole encounter, noting that in one of the photos of the couple lying close together, Batali “grabbed my ass in this photo.”
“That didn’t happen. There was no negligent bodily harm. In the end, you’ll find that she’s not telling the truth,” Fuller claimed in his opening statement.
Prosecutors allege Batali assaulted Tene while posing with her at Towne Stove and Spirits in Boston. The now-closed bar was near the local outpost of Eataly, once part-owned by Italian chain Batali.
The photos – and Tene’s face – were not released to the public on Monday to protect her identity, although she was identified by name in court.
“As he pulled her face to him and kissed her, his right hand felt her breast, butt and crotch,” Assistant District Attorney Nina Bonelli said during opening statements.
Tene has also filed a civil lawsuit against Batali, claiming the incident caused “severe emotional distress”. She’s just one of several women who have accused Batalli of wrongdoing, which forced the restaurant owner to exit his empire and leave ABC cookery show The Chew.
“I made a lot of mistakes and I’m very sorry that I let my friends, my family, my fans and my team down,” Batali said in a December 2017 newsletter amid the swirling allegations. “My behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility.”
A year later, both the New York Times and CBS’s 60 Minutes reported sexual assault allegations against Batali. However, New York police told the Times at the time they dropped the investigation into Batali because they did not have enough evidence to make an arrest.
Since the allegations, Batali has been largely cleaned up as the face of a nationwide restaurant empire. In 2019, the chef announced that several people, including longtime partner Joe Bastianich, had bought out his stake in the massive business.