The Barefoot Contessa Hates Cilantro … And Children With Cancer

barefoot-contessa-ina-garten

Originally posted at NewsReal’s That’s What She Said

I always thought there was something a little off about Ina Garten. The woman substitutes basil for cilantro in her chili recipe. What kind of animal does such a thing?

This kind:

The “Barefoot Contessa” star allegedly turned down a request from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The foundation reportedly tried to contact the celebrity chef twice on behalf of a six-year-old boy suffering from leukemia who wanted to cook with her. And twice they were rebuffed.

Garten reportedly blew off the first request due to her busy book tour schedule. But 6-year-old Enzo decided to wait, skipping the chance to have another wish granted by the foundation. Bad choice, kid:

We’re told the organization went back to Ina this year … but her team responded with a “definite no” … once again, citing scheduling conflicts.

A member of Enzo’s family says the 6-year-old is heartbroken … and asked parents, “Why doesn’t she want to meet me?”

Ina Garten can’t spare 10 minutes to teach a dying kid how to stick Nilla Wafers in a dish of banana pudding? Maybe whip up a little guacamole? (Hold the cilantro!)

Of course, The Contessa has been swamped for ages, what with entertaining celebrity friends like Alec “my daughter is a ‘pig'” Baldwin, writing checks to Obama for America, and hosting Planned Parenthood Benefits at her home.

Published by Jenn Q. Public on March 27, 2011 at 10:28 pm

Filed Under Celebrities

Comments

3 Responses to “The Barefoot Contessa Hates Cilantro … And Children With Cancer”

  1. Alexa on May 4th, 2011 1:35 pm

    I feel the media was too hard on Ina here. Who knows why she turned down the boy. Perhaps the thought of meeting a young boy with cancer was overwhelming to her. Perhaps someone close to her once died of cancer. This is very personal and we can’t possible know all the details so why judge?

  2. Jenn Q. Public on May 4th, 2011 1:53 pm

    According to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Ina Garten “is a celebrity wish granter who has generously made herself available to grant a wish in the past.” So it would seem we can’t count her among those too sensitive to engage in this kind of work.

    And if this was tough for her, she could have just been honest about it instead of snubbing a kid and using her schedule as an excuse. It was classless and needlessly hurtful to a sick kid.

    Everyone is free to make stupid mistakes. No one is free from judgment.

  3. Chris on April 9th, 2022 1:42 pm

    Perhaps that’s why she felt comfortable says no to that “Make a Wish”, foundation. She’s already done done some work with that organization or one like it, futhermore having no time for granting wishes of any kind for a few years. We never know how comfortable or not, one’s life is that is not your own. In an age where one of the most successful and respected individuals in this country can be found guilty of ponzi scheming after 20 plus years of bleeding out their most loyal customers while being a national authority on the very industry they’re abusing, we can’t always assume that a person has what we need, to give. Failure to respect an individual’s time and schedule can be considered an obnoxious ploy with a monster behind. The little boy and family should thank his organization of choice for making him appear to be that monster that needed to be ignored on the basic principle that we don’t oblige disrespectful people. When his tesm failed to respect her team’s decision and obnoxiously went to the press as an attempt to force Ina’s hand, they very well may have inadvertently been the real reason why she said, “no”, not the child. Let someone’s family member at work try to force your hand on something you’d get to eventually get to but they wanted it expedited and completed now, see if it isn’t you that removes the favor off the table completely just because you didn’t like them hounding you and forcing you to do what they wanted, when they wanted it. … food for thought

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