Food Network star Ina Garten, a.k.a. the “Barefoot Contessa,” is feeling the burn, but it’s not from logging extra miles on a treadmill. Obviously.
Rather, the celebrity chef got scorched earlier this week when she was forced to down a huge helping of humble pie during the latest chapter of her Make-a-Wish Foundation debacle.
As you remember from my previous post, Garten got herself into quite a pickle last month when she TWICE turned down a 6-year-old cancer patient’s request to meet her. The highfalutin Food Network star was then virtually flogged by millions of fans, who took to the Internet to publicly shame her for her “lack of compassion.”
Following numerous less than flattering articles and blurbs on cable news networks, Garten apparently had a change of heart and finally approached the family of young Enzo Pereda.
According to TMZ.com, Garten somehow found the time to meet with the Make-A-Wish kid, and decided to call him a few days ago to spread the good news.
Garten’s rep told TMZ: “[Ina] looks forward to inviting him to spend some time with her at the Food Network studios.”
But here’s the rub: Enzo no longer wants to play ball with the childless Barefoot Contessa. Rather, the boy’s father told TMZ that he wants to put an end to the drama.
“I don’t want to put my son through all these emotions. We’re better off just leaving everything the way it is,” Enzo’s dad told TMZ.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
By the way, Enzo is getting a new dream granted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation. According to his dad, Enzo is planning to swim with dolphins in August. In fact, the little leukemia patient is so pumped about his mammal meet-and-greet that he has been sleeping in his swimsuit.
As for the one haters refer to as the “beached whale” of the Food Network, insiders say Garten is hoping the media firestorm will finally go away.
“This has been a disaster for Ina,” a source tells PopEater.com. “She buried her head in the sand for days hoping the bad publicity would go over, but it didn’t.”
Turns out it actually hurt Garten’s mega brand, and burned her badly.
“Chefs think they are the new rock stars. And no one has a higher opinion of themselves than Ina,” an insider told Popeater. “She forgot a long time ago that it is the fans who make you who you are. You can be the most talented chef in the world, but if people don’t like you, they won’t watch your shows or buy your cookbooks.”
I still wonder if Garten would have been more willing to grant the sick kid’s request—-the first time—-if she had children of her own.