MasterChef program reportedly a hotbed of sexual harassment

Posted in Sexual Harassment on June 24, 2013

Most of us work in environments where our bosses have a good measure of control over our lives. But, imagine being judged on a regular basis to determine whether it will be you or one of your coworkers who will be canned that week, your bosses have essentially unfettered control over how you are presented to a national audience, and the icing on the cake, you had to sign a weighty nondisclosure contract saying that you wouldn’t talk about any of it. Well, this level of control is present on the television program MasterChef, and some contestants are saying that the show’s judges are abusing it in order to facilitate their ongoing culture of sexual harassment.

The show feature three male judges, including celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who gauge the cooking abilities of contestants, regularly eliminating those whose recipes fail to measure up. One woman who was eliminated as a contestant in season four of MasterChef recently took to the internet to voice her concerns over the hostile and inappropriate sexual behavior she claims to have witnessed the judges engaging in.

In a blog post, the contestant claimed that females featured on the show were treated by the judges in a “sexist, degrading manner.” Another season four contestant apparently confirmed the accuracy of the blog post.

This is not the first time sexual harassment allegations have been levied against the MasterChef judges. To this point, however, the allegations have remained just that, and the show and its judges have not been the target of any remedial legal action.

Source: Eater, MasterChef Judges Accused of Sexual Harassment, Jasmin Sun, June 24, 2013