Gordon Ramsay sued for faking 'reality' TV

The actor chef star of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is being sued for faking reality TV. Isn't that kind of redundant, haven't we gotten past that debate already? All reality is fake, otherwise it wouldn't be entertaining. Real reality is boring as hell, that's why we have television and theaters.

That said, there is naturally a line to be walked between "edited reality" which is the category that almost all reality entertainment falls under, and fraud. A&E's Flip This House got a taste of that very important difference recently when the authorities began investigating Sam Leccima for fraud in connection with episodes of that reality show which were supposed to feature Leccima buying, renovating, and reselling a house over the span of just a couple of weeks. Leccima is accused of using clever editing and shooting tactics to conceal the fact that most of the work he was doing was just for show.

Gordon Ramsay, for his part, is now being accused of crossing the line between clever editing, and not actually doing the job he is supposed to be doing.

Says Variety on the lawsuit, "Ramsay falsely claimed meat was spoiled, used a defective chair to imply that Dillons' furniture was shoddy and even hired actors to pose as customers to make the restaurant look busy at the end of the week."

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares features the famous British chef spending a week with a failing restaruant, using his expertise to revitalize the business. I wonder though why they bother. If his expertise is being a chef, what makes him capable of turning around a business?

As for Sam Leccima, that's just a shame. I liked watching his crew work and it was a fun and entertaining program, but there's no room for con artists. If he did what he was accused of, and it's hard not to believe that he did, then he's got to go. And so do Ramsay.

Topics: Television, Gordon Ramsay, Sam Leccima, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmare, Flip This House