r/foodnetwork • u/Wiccanwitch1996 • 2d ago
Do celeb chefs still donate their winnings to charity??
So I remember when competition shows would have chefs like Bobby flay, Michael Simon, Amanda Freitag, they would be fighting for a charity. So multiple questions: A) did they actually donate to charities in the first place? I assume they did. And B) do they do that now? I’ve noticed every competition show (most not all) it’s the same rotation of chefs, usually all of them have been in TOC or have been around a while on FN. Some have judged other shows as well. And there is now always a monetary prize. If they don’t then what happened? Why aren’t they doing the competition for charities anymore?
Just my observation and hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me. I’m genuinely curious. ETA: I’m not saying they shouldn’t be winning prize money at all! They have families and businesses to support too. Thanks for all the good insight 😁
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u/Iwoulddiefcftbatk 2d ago
Being a famous chef doesn’t pay as well as people think and if they own their own restaurants the margins are tiny. Bobby Flay might be an exception. Michael Symon’s Lola in Cleveland closed recently and so has Vegas restaurants , I think Antonia is doing fine, but the restaurant industry has always been on slim margins and it’s massively slowing down (I work for a restaurant supplier) so everyone needs to get a cushion. Unless they specifically say it’s for ‘X’ charity, it’s a safe assumption that they’re banking that money.
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u/seandealan 2d ago
Symon closed his to spend time with family not financial reasons as I understand it.
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u/Immediate_Tone9693 2d ago
I could definitely be wrong, but I think the restaurant industry has been suffering for a good while now, especially during and after the pandemic. With that in mind, I think the chefs actually need the money these days.
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u/Iwoulddiefcftbatk 2d ago
I work for a restaurant supplier and it’s not as bad as it was in spring/summer 2020, there’s going to be a bunch of restaurant groups going into bankruptcy and mass closing in the very near future.
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u/Snack_attack101 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think it's often when there is a specific show (like on Chopped for example) where the point is that the celebrity chef is competing for their favourite charity. In those cases, the 'for charity' thing is the point.
I do remember Sarah Bradley winning one of the special Chopped competitions (a not for charity one) and giving her winnings to the other finalist who had a child with a rare disease which, in my eyes, made her a winner twice over! (not the point of the original question, but a case of a chef giving up their winnings for a cause)
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u/liikeduhh 1d ago
If a television show is stating that money is going to charity, the money must be donated to charity. It's a legal thing. The charities are also announced publicly, so if the food Network says that they are donating 20K and they never get that money, we would have heard about it.
As for the chefs, they are not a part of a union. They are reality stars. Unless they have million dollar contacts, they are probably making a couple hundred bucks, maybe a few thousand (if their lucky) per episode as the base pay.
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u/YouDontWinFrnzWSalad 2d ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if the personalities are paid via their contracts with FN and FN makes separate donations to charity as a tax write off.
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u/SpeedySparkRuby 7h ago
They probably get an "appearance fee" to be there but its probably not a lot (like $1-2K)
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u/Novel-Cash-8001 1d ago
It's nice if they do occasionally but this is how they earn their living....
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u/Wiccanwitch1996 1d ago
Oh I understand completely! It’s just something I’ve noticed and was curious about the change up. I binge watch a lot of older food network, on top of the newer stuff I try out. I figured 2020 was the turning point due to the massive hit to the industry.
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u/FinanciallySecure9 1d ago
Why aren’t they doing the competition for charities anymore?
I imagine for the same reasons everyone else isn’t donating to charities.
Money is much tighter than it used to be-for everyone except the ultra wealthy. Even personally, I used to be able to donate half of my salary. But since Covid I can’t afford to do that anymore. Partly because my salary is only 2/3 of what it was pre-covid, and partly because everything is so much more expensive.
I’m not in the restaurant industry, but I have friends who are. It’s rough out there.
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u/tylersmom1919 1d ago
Seems to me it was after covid they all started keeping the money and not donating it to charity. Prior to that, you're right, all the chefs donated to their favorite charities.
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u/Wiccanwitch1996 1d ago
I also thought it could’ve been budget cuts and pay cuts across food network maybe?? But I definitely started noticing more after Covid.
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u/Amazing-Wave4704 1d ago
They deserve to make a living too.
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u/Wiccanwitch1996 1d ago
I think you misunderstood. I’m happy that they are making money and keeping the winnings I have no problem with that. They gotta make their money and support their families. I had just made an observation and was hoping for some light on the subject. They can do what they want with the winnings it isn’t my business what they do, but I was just curious if it changed because of COVID or food network stopped paying their chefs good money etc.
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u/LLD615 1d ago
I would bet many of the chefs who did before now put it back into their businesses. Other chefs probably need it for themselves and their businesses - I remember reading an interview once where someone said “just because Guy has me on his shows doesn’t mean I am rich, I need to make a living too.”
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u/Firegoat1 Brown Food Tastes Good 1d ago
It seems like some competition are specifically for charity and the chefs know that going into it. A fairly recent ggg vs ddd episode of ggg had the prize a 50/50 split of money to chef and to their charity.
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u/_ramona_ 1d ago
I’ve also wondered the same thing.
My armchair take is that many (most?) of FN’s shows are now competition based, as opposed to the older model of people having a longer contract for a cooking show.
My ex was once on a Game Show Network show and there was a minimum of $1,000 for his appearance, win or lose. At the time, I understood that to be something aligned with SAG (now SAG-AFTRA) rates. I doubt it’s significantly higher for those appearing on FN, but that’s my uneducated guess. You can check here for a deeper dive, but I admit I haven’t (https://www.sagaftra.org/production-center/contract/810/rate-sheet/document)
Given the state of the restaurant industry, I agree with a lot of the other commenters here that they probably keep the money and it’s also probably genuinely needed.
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u/erickufrin 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing ⏱️⏱️⏱️ 15h ago
Only the top 1% of people on Food Network are "rich". Every one else is basically broke and appears on FN as a source of income.
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1d ago
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u/AnyMark3114 Good Eats 🍽 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’m fine with them pocketing the money. The restaurant industry is one of the toughest to make it in. I’m also getting the sense that these days it’s more slim pickens with FN contracts, which may have impacted things greatly for some talent.
This is based on at least one interview I heard/watched in the last year or so. And also considering how they’ve cut ties with so many longstanding faces such as: Irvine, Bertinelli, etc.
I’m also now recalling the gentleman who recently posted a video to social media saying he hadn’t worked in a long stretch. He was on a few shows and I can’t recall his name, but one could see how he was truly struggling and I felt for him.
Many of these stars also donate much of their time to good causes. Like Amanda Freitag and God’s Love We Deliver or Marc Murphy with No Kid Hungry, etc.