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Gordon Ramsay, semantics & the L Word

Gordon Ramsay says he didn't use the "L" word and blasts Tracy Grimshaw for "attacking my wife." What language is he speaking?

grGordon Ramsay was playing semantics yesterday as the media storm over his public comments on Tracy Grimshaw continued.

“The tapes (of the live performance) are there,” Ramsay said. “My lawyers have looked at them.”

The earliest media article of the Melbourne Food and Wine Show comments in News Limited articles claimed:
Ramsay told an audience of several thousand people that Grimshaw was “a lesbian”.

When the crowd reacted with gasps, he said: “What? I’m not saying she’s a . . . .”

So either the article is inaccurate or a crowd, reportedly numbering up to 3000 people, gasped for no apparent reason.

He was also reported as showing a picture of a woman, who appeared to be naked, on her hands and knees with the features of a pig and multiple breasts. In a clip posted on YouTube the photo is flashed up on a big screen.

But it doesn’t include the other quotes as reported in media.

On Rove on Sunday he was clearly dodging the issue too, and seemed to be well versed on what Rove McManus was referring to when he came to Grimshaw’s defence.

So if he didn’t use the word “lesbian” did he refer to it by another slang name in ‘I’m not saying she’s a . . . .’?

On radio Tracy admitted further that the comments offended her mother, which helped prompt her rebuke. She noted that she could not envisage a time she would ever want to interview him again.

The issue was such a hot topic in media yesterday, even Seven’s The Morning Show devoted an entire segment to it and to the ACA editorial. It also made it into Seven News.

The Australian even suggests that Ramsay inadvertently did her a favour by raising the question of Grimshaw’s sexuality, which it notes has long been the subject of a whispering campaign.

Of course this isn’t the first time he’s been accused of bending the truth. In March the Glasgow Rangers said he had never signed a contract with them, despite his claims he had given up a football career to take to the restaurant biz.

Yesterday Ramsay suggested Grimshaw’s reponse was a grab for ratings. An interesting proposition given that the story emanated from his corner. On Friday’s ACA both personalities were in good cheer.

“I’m very sorry that Tracy decided to attack my wife.

“To stoop to that low and attack my wife is disgusting.”

Again, it’s perplexing to know where Grimshaw attacked his wife. Frankly, she sounded empathetic to her, given the reported fidelity issues of the chef.

Many readers have noted that Nine appears to have burned a once-favourite son. He was so pivotal to the success of the network in 2008 that Nine executive Jeffery Browne admitted without him the network would have been “F***ed.” His star dropped quickly with viewers after Nine saturated out screens with him.

Can Nine afford to see it drop even further?

18 Responses

  1. This should give Nine a new idea for a show. Ramsay vs Grimshaw, hitting each other with pillows on a greasy pole over a swimming pool (a la It’s A Knockout). That should be in line with Nine’s programming and guaranteed to be a hit with it’s discerning “20-to-1” viewers.

    To expect anything non-controversial from Ramsay is/was naive. To make a big deal is to boost “celebrity” status/ratings. Nine is playing this for a win since they have shows representing both the people involved…

  2. @Andrew D: I wouldn’t always be so cynical, I’m pretty sure Gorden Ramsey would not agree to set up something like this when he had to suffer humiliation by apologising (which I think was a very nice thing of him to do, and I’m glad tracy accepted the apology).

  3. im pretty sure that this is all a publicity stunt. nine just wants ramsay to be back in the media so he can publicise his future reality show about his new restaurant. also aca have increased their ratings due to the spat. The longer that this plays out, the happier nine will be.

  4. Cant stand him to be honest. Great to see Rove defending Tracey Grimshaw though, I wouldve have expected him to laugh with Ramsay! He keeps making up bullsh*t like a 5 year old does when in a fight. Grow up Gordon Ramsay and apologize! Then it will be over and people can go back to seeing you as that ‘f -word guy’

  5. when ever i have seen ramsey talk to anyone he always goes out of his way to offend and abuse them, either ramsey is putting on an act cause he has nothing else to offer or he lacks such basic communication skills to the point where it cripples his ability to interact with others.

  6. Honestly why is everyone so shocked that Gordon is rude and swears a lot. We’ve all seen his shows and that’s the way he is. Perhaps Ch9 saying nothing at all would of been the best response instead of stirring things up. There’s no real accurate account as to what happened.

  7. I think you need to add this to your “What’s been the media ‘story of the year’ so far?” question, David.

    The thing is – in my opinion, it’s not news…..I’m sick of hearing about it. Nine’s news break during the evening on Monday had this as it’s only ‘news’…..

  8. “I’m very sorry that Tracy decided to attack my wife.
    “To stoop to that low and attack my wife is disgusting.”

    Umm Gorden, I’m pretty sure you’re the one that has ‘attacked’ your wife, by being unfaithful to her. Tracy was, David said, being sympathetic towards her.

    To his comment on “a grab for ratings”
    Well if that’s the way he thinks, then his initial comments were a grab for attention- putting someone else down to make oneself feel better.

  9. Hmmm…she didn’t *attack* his wife, but she dragged her into it. Smacks of opportunism, really. Let’s face it, there’s plenty of material with Ramsay on his own.

    Ramsay is a thug, and Nine has always promoted him as such to their ratings advantage. Whether he called her a lesbian or not is immaterial, he attacked her in an unpleasant manner and she deserved a right of reply, as unwatchable as I found it.

    Grimshaw should stick to attacking him because he’s fair game but not round the houses by questioning his treatment of his wife. She’s not a public figure, leave her out of it. Grimshaw may have distressed his wife, so she should probably have thought that one through.

    Hit the mark, though, didn’t it?

  10. To say Traceys a pig is a bit rich really. She would be a pure bread while looking at his face and personality he looks like several feral pigs stitched together poorly. I think it’s odd 7news gave her air time but nothing { i’m guessing} will turn people from 7news. It’s bizarre how big it’s got.

  11. Its interesting to see how News Limited have changed it line about Ramsay calling Tracy a Lesbian

    In todays online article they are now saying “Ramsay reportedly insinuated she was a lesbian at his weekend food and wine demonstrations”

  12. If his shows were still rating well on Nine this wouldn’t even have rated a mention and if it did his comments would’ve been portrayed a whole lot differently.

  13. Ramsay is bringing this trouble on himself. If he is interesting and witty enough he should be enough entertainment on his own without draging other people down. This is only making Grimshaw more popular and I am sure 9 would be loving all this at the moment.

    Ramsay is a bully, bout time he was held to task for his big mouth

  14. I think Nine can afford to let Ramsay go, the shows do them no favours at all; Ramsay is a novelty nothing more. Why was this country facinated by a foul mouthed wanker in the first place, he is nothing special, he is a chef for crying out loud and his shows were nothing but abuse, they never showed us how to cook a good meal ala Masterchef.

    I think Tracey handled the whole situation well and Ramsay should be given a boot up the ass.

  15. There are a lot of people upset with Ramsay at the moment. But you know one group of guys that are happy he gave Tracy Grimshaw a spray?

    The Chaser team 😀

  16. Every time Rove said he was sticking up for Tracy, the laughing response from Ramsay was “nice carpet” as he pretended to look at the carpet on the studio floor. He was plainly relating Tracy to the carpet and insinuating that she ate it.

    The original Sunday Telegraph article says: “The phrase that Ramsay used was a highly derogatory term often used to describe lesbians”.

    So according to the Sunday Telegraph, he called her a lesbian using another term.

    Ramsay is a loser and Nine should disassociate the network from him.

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