A Manhattan judge skewered the former wife of celebrity chef Bobby Flay for hauling her ex to court for a pre-Thanksgiving throwdown over stale Food Network videos and inflated moving expenses.
“These videos at issue are the flank steak crostini, flank steak guacamole and the grilled sweet potatoes?” Justice Matthew Cooper asked in disbelief.
“Sounds like the kind of case that should be in small claims court,” Cooper told Flay, 50, and his ex-wife, “Law and Order” actress Stephanie March, 41.
The Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” star finalized his divorce from March in July, but earlier this month she filed a motion demanding $105,000 for the videos that feature her with the meat and potatoes.
She claimed the videos violated the divorce agreement that prevented both sides from using one another’s images for profit.
But the Food Network spots predate the split and are controlled by the TV channel, not Flay, his lawyer Jeremy Bethels said in court.
“My client has made it very clear that he has no control over what the Food Network does,” Bethels said. “This is not about the agreement, it’s not really about justice. It’s about revenge.”
Flay allegedly cooked his 10-year marriage with March by cheating on her with a young hostess at Bar Americain restaurant in Midtown.
Bethels added that Flay paid March “well above” what was required in their prenuptial agreement — which gave the actress $5,000 monthly — to avoid dragging out their bitter divorce in public.
But March’s lawyer, Nicholas Cohen, said the celebrated cook was to blame for the strung-out split. “This is about Mr. Flay pushing my client around,” Cohen said.
Cohen said that Flay insisted on adding the clause about protecting his image in their divorce deal and “now it’s coming back to bite him.”
The judge ultimately tossed March’s demand for $105,000, finding that Flay had no ability to demand that the Food Network remove the videos.
He also struck March’s request for $14,000 in moving fees billed by a friend’s Los Angeles company, which flew out an executive and assistant to supervise the actress’ move out of her husband’s 7th Avenue condo last summer.
“He paid the $8,000 for the movers, then [comes] a company out of LA — which strikes me as odd, why couldn’t this be somebody from New York? This is a huge amount of money for moving what I gather was very little,” Cooper said.
The judge wasn’t swayed by Cohen’s claims that “this was no ordinary move” because Flay insisted on sending security personnel and required everyone to sign nondisclosure agreements.
At the end of the hour-long proceeding, Flay, dressed in a dark gray suit and black bowler hat, said only, “Happy Thanksgiving.”
March also declined to comment, but added, “Oh, happy Thanksgiving” before leaving court in a skirted black coat and gray suede ankle boots.
March’s lawyer, Nicholas Cohen, said, “This motion was simply about enforcing a previously agreed upon contract and while we are disappointed with this decision, we believe that these breaches are real. Stephanie continues to abide by the terms of the divorce agreement, and we expect Mr Flay will do the same going forward.”