NYPD Is Investigating Mario Batali for Sexual Misconduct Allegations [Update]

Mario Batali is under criminal investigation for allegations of sexual misconduct. The New York Police Department tells 60 Minutes that it has an ongoing investigation into the celebrity chef for potentially criminal behavior.

NYPD tells Eater that it’s looking at the assault allegations raised in the 60 Minutes report. Update: The Daily News reports that police are also looking into another, similar incident.

The 60 Minutes segment on Sunday took a look at several allegations against Batali, which first became public in a December Eater investigation. Anderson Cooper speaks with women who worked at the Spotted Pig, where Batali was an investor and allegedly groped staffers as a diner there.

The CBS newsmagazine show also spoke with an anonymous former Babbo employee who alleges Batali assaulted her in 2005 — claiming that she woke up after a party at the Spotted Pig with a “very deeply wounded” leg and something that looked like semen on her skirt. She later called a crisis hotline and went to a hospital to be examined, but ultimately, she chose not to file a police report. Batali denied the incident.

Police are also investigating another case after the victim reported the crime in March, according to the Daily News. She told NYPD that she had been drinking at Babbo in January 2004 and then blacked out; when she awakened, Batali was having sex with her, the complain said. She believes she was drugged. That investigation is also ongoing.

Batali stepped away from his Italian restaurant empire in late 2017 after allegations that he inappropriately touched women over the course of his decades-long career. At the time, he admitted that “much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted.”

Batali and Bastianich Hospitality Group issued a statement saying that the other partners did not know about the allegations made public on Sunday night, calling them “chilling and deeply disturbing.” The company also noted that the terms of Batali’s divestment from two dozen restaurants across the country will finalize on July 1.

This post has been updated to include a statement from B&B, new information from NYPD, and a newly reported incident.