Guy Fieri: When it’s all over, I just hope people say, ‘Guy helped’
Guy Fieri has had the wildest ride careerwise. 10 years ago, he was the butt of the joke in the food world. The New York Times eviscerated his restaurant and chefs like Anthony Bourdain went out their way to put him down. But he plugged along, undeterred. Guy stuck with the fanbase that made him popular and it paid off. Just last May, the same New York Times wrote a laudatory article called – I kid you not – Guy Fieri, Elder Statesman of Flavortown. But the thing that worked the most in Guy’s favor is that while his “Boom!” personae came through in his shows, his actions spoke to who he is at his core. After being accused of homophobia by a disgruntled Food Network employee (who made several other unsubstantiated claims), Guy became more vocal about his allyship to the LGBTQ community, ultimately officiating at 101 gay weddings in honor of his late sister Morgan. He’s also raising her son Jules since her passing. And when Guy’s fortune grew, he made sure he gave back to the communities who helped make him, including raising $25 million for Restaurant Employee Relief Fund during the pandemic. In his latest interview with People, he said he hopes that’s his legacy. That when he’s gone, people remember that, “Guy helped.”
“I think that I’ve definitely mellowed,” Guy Fieri says to the small entourage gathered around a table on a sun-drenched rooftop restaurant in Los Angeles.
Today Fieri is one of the most powerful food celebrities in the world—anchoring six shows (including his newest, Guy’s Ultimate Game Night) while running 85 restaurants, a production company, his Santo Tequila business with pal Sammy Hagar and his new Knuckle Sandwich by Espinosa cigar line.
In May 2021 he signed a three-year contract with Food Network worth an estimated $80 million, making him the highest-paid chef in network history.
“Most of my friends will [say] I haven’t changed. I think it’s because when I got into television, I’d already done what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a great dad,” says Fieri, whose family includes sons Hunter, 26, and Ryder, 16, with wife Lori, 52, and nephew Jules, 22, whom he and Lori have raised since his sister Morgan’s death from melanoma in 2011. “Family is always the first priority.”
Fortunately, Fieri has managed to blend the work he loves with the family he adores. A recent family reunion in North Carolina turned into the subject of an upcoming Food Network special. A five-day trip to his ranch in Ferndale, Calif., became both a TV opportunity and a philanthropic one.
“We did a first-responder event, fed 650 people, shot a show about it,” he says. “The area up there is poor, so we try to do things to preserve the town.”
As restaurants closed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fieri launched the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund and raised $25 million to help struggling hospitality workers.
“If you’re the guy that owns the shovel, why wouldn’t you help dig the hole?” says Fieri. “I want to make a positive impact. When it’s all over, I just hope people say, ‘Guy was good for mankind. Guy helped.’ “
That would be an amazing legacy to leave behind. Even if it was just one person saying it, to know you made a difference to them, that would be something. I appreciate that Guy’s not looking for sole credit either. He doesn’t want it to be “if it weren’t for Guy… “ Just that he helped with a larger whole. I don’t think Guy’s perfect, I just think he got banged on for the wrong reasons. I know two restaurants he filmed in for DD&D and they had nothing but nice things to say about him. I ate at a third and the owner said the show saved them from closing. A lot of these foodies who put Guy down, did they prevent a restaurant from closing their doors? Guy helped.
The last time I wrote about Kristen Stewart, I read that she’d hoped Guy Fieri would officiate at her wedding to Dylan Meyer. I couldn’t for the life of me work it into that story (my gawd did I try). Fortunately, the universe did its thing and Guy told her he’s in, which he confirmed in this People exclusive so let’s make this happen. Boom!
Photo credit: People, Instagram and Cover Images
