Celebrity Chef Who's Defying COVID-19 Restrictions Fires Back at Critics: 'I'm Not the A**hole, the Governor Is'

Leah Barkoukis | December 04, 2020 6:43 AM

In a video response to “all the haters” calling him a “grandmother killer” and accusing him of not taking the pandemic seriously, celebrity chef Andrew Gruel succinctly explained why he’s defying California’s COVID-19 restrictions to keep outdoor dining at his restaurant open.

“OK, I’ve got everybody blowing up my replies right now, saying I’m a grandmother killer and that we don’t take this pandemic seriously, so I’m just going to address it all right here so that I actually don’t have to individually go back and forth and box with every single one of these fake accounts,” said Gruel, executive chef and owner of Slapfish.

“So, here’s the situation,” he continued. “Do we take the pandemic seriously? Of course we do. Am I saying that we shouldn’t close outdoor dining? Yes, I am. At every single juncture along the way here, from the beginning shut-down to today, we’ve listened to all of the advice from our government officials, only to be shut down over and over and over again, and then not compensated for the elements that we put in place in our businesses in order to protect our customers.”

He said he shut down indoor dining, invested in plexiglass, and just dropped thousands of dollars on outdoor heaters.

“There is zero scientific evidence that proves that outdoor dining is contributing to a rise in cases related to this, alright?” Gruel stated. “I am only saying that we are going to continue dining outdoors, because I can get on an airplane, and I can fly and eat and do whatever I want — and don’t tell me it’s the HEPA filters, OK? Because that’s not the case. You don’t turn those on until you get onto the plane. Before that, everybody’s fornicating on top of each other.”