‘60 Minutes’ Tackles Ken Friedman and Mario Batali’s Misconduct Allegations Sunday

Disgraced NYC restaurateurs Mario Batali and Ken Friedman will be back in the investigative news spotlight this Sunday: Anderson Cooper will be interviewing restaurant workers who were “sexually harassed or assaulted” at the Spotted Pig for Sunday’s episode of 60 Minutes — with particular focus on the behavior of Batali and Friedman.

It’s the third segment in the CBS newsmagazine’s episode this week, which will air at 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 20. The full description only notes that the segment will dive into the accusations against the Spotted Pig’s co-owner Friedman and Batali, who’s an investor in the restaurant.

Both men were accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women late last year, with lots of allegations of unwanted touching and other inappropriate behavior. Staffers and former staffers claimed that a third-floor room in the Spotted Pig even earned the notorious nickname “the rape room.” Since then, Friedman and Batali have both stepped away from the day-to-day operations of their restaurants. They also both still financially benefit from ownership of their restaurant empires, though Batali is publicly in the process of divesting.

It’s a messy process, and one that their remaining partners April Bloomfield and Joe Bastianich have had to grapple with, even as they too have been accused of allowing their colleagues’ bad behavior to flourish for years.

Besides the Spotted Pig, Friedman’s an owner in the Breslin, White Gold, Rusty Knot, and Salvation Taco. Batali’s still a partner in some two dozen restaurants across the country, including seminal NYC ones like Babbo and Del Posto.