Guy Fieri Homophobia? Controversy Erupts Over Allegations Of Food Network Star's Anti-Gay Sentiments

Guy Fieri Homophobia Controversy Erupts

City Pages has painted an extremely unflattering picture of "Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives" star Guy Fieri.

The paper relies on damning quotes from former "DDD" producer David Page who, among several grievances, claims Fieri exhibited homophobic behavior.

Fieri also needed protection from homosexuals, or at least advance warning. Early in the show's run, Page got a phone call from Fieri, who'd just walked out of a restaurant in a huff.

"Guy had decided that the two men running the restaurant were life partners," Page remembers. "He said, 'You can't send me to talk to gay people without warning! Those people weird me out!'"

A spokesperson for Fieri defended the Food Network celebrity in a statement issued to Eater:

Guy’s reputation speaks for itself. He’s a standup guy who does right by people. He would never make the kind of comments attributed to him in this story, and anyone who knows or has even met him knows that.

After Fieri's PR team released the statement, City Pages reached out to former "DDD" field producer Kari Kloster, who's also quoted in the paper's original piece. Kloster is now a vice president at Page's production company and she backs up what her boss said about Fieri's homophobic behavior.

"From my memory of being a field producer it's just well-known to me among the crew that Guy has a problem -- if there was a homosexual in a restaurant, as the main character, the shoot went different," Kloster said in a statement.

This isn't the first time Page has lambasted Fieri. In August, Page settled a lawsuit with Food Network alleging that the company refused to give him access to Fieri, effectively making it impossible to produce "DDD." After the lawsuit was put to bed, Page told the New York Post that Fieri shut him out after the first few seasons of the show, and it was at Fieri's request that the Food Network fired him.

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