Anti-Gay Slurs Spoil Guy Fieri Chili Cook-Off
A chili cook-off hosted by Guy Fieri at a California fair was marred by a man spewing anti-gay slurs at his competitors.
Foggy Bottoms Boys, a gay-owned farm taking part in a recent chili cook-off hosted by restauranteur Guy Fieri at the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale, California, claimed in an Instagram post that a rival business owner made derogatory anti-gay comments and slurs loud enough for onlookers to hear.
The tenor of the comments, which were not directed to a specific person but rather to Foggy Bottoms Boys and their employees in general, escalated throughout the day, and the person making them appeared to be intoxicated, according to co-owner Thomas Nicholson Stratton.
That same person later allegedly backed over some boxes of food and kitchen equipment, damaging them, Nicholson Stratton told the Times-Standard, a Eureka-based newspaper.
While Foggy Bottoms Boys did not identify the person involved in the incident in their Instagram post, the LoCo Fish Company account later commented on the post, writing, “I’m extremely sorry for our actions. We are NOT anti-LGBTQ in any shape or form.”
The Times-Standard reports that Ferndale police arrested LoCo Fish Company’s owner, Jayme Knight, for driving under the influence on Thursday evening.
Knight subsequently told the North Coast Journal that he regretted his actions, but insisted he did not hold animosity toward the LGBTQ community. He also claimed that he accidentally ran over Foggy Bottoms Boys’ table, food, and kitchen equipment while trying to execute a three-point turn.
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