Paula Deen vs. Anthony Bourdain
The food fight of the year started not in some faceless high school cafeteria, but within the pages of TV Guide between two celebrity chefs. In an August 18th Q&A for the magazine, classically-trained French chef Anthony Bourdain, as known for adventuresome tastes as he is for his gruff attitude, called fellow Food Network chef Paula Deen "the worst, most dangerous person in the world" due to her calorie-laden concoctions. "I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it's OK to eat food that is killing us. Plus, her food sucks," he added. (Bourdain also sounded off against other mainstream chefs, including Guy Fieri and Rachael Ray.) Not content to be labeled as an evildoer, Deen fired back the very next day in the New York Post, skewering Bourdain for his irritable attitude and his overly extravagant food choices. "My friends and I cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills . . . It wasn't that long ago that I was struggling to feed my family, too," she wrote. Deen consciously took the high road, noting that Bourdain didn't have to like their food, but he should keep his character analyses to himself.