Mario Batali severs ties with longtime restaurant partner

NEW YORK (AP) — The 20-year business partnership between celebrity chef Mario Batali and the Bastianich family of restaurateurs has been dissolved. It comes months after the original timeline for the divestiture and more than a year after several women accused Batali of sexual harassment and assault.
In a two-sentence statement issued Wednesday, Batali said he has reached an agreement with Joe Bastianich and will “no longer have any stake in the restaurants we built together.”