Ever since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in 2017, people have been Hollywood personalities accountable for their sexually inappropriate behaviour. As a result, we've seen the likes of Kevin Spacey, Louis CK, and Aziz Ansari face consequences of varying degrees for their harassment and abuse of men and women - most of which occurred before Weinstein was outed as a sexual predator.
Since then, other celebrities have been put under a magnifying glass for their behaviour, with many famous folks being called out for incidents that happened years, even decades, ago. The latest occurrence of this has been with Gordon Ramsay, whose predatory actions have been exposed in an interview with Sofia Vergara from 2010.
During the interview, which took place on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Ramsay acts in an overtly sexualised manner towards Vergara, and fails to respond to her obvious discomfort.
The first uncomfortable moment occurs when Vergara asks, "Did I scare you guys?" while referencing a previous skit on the show that night. "I never scream like that in real life. It was all acting."
Ramsay's response to this is: "Only in the bedroom?"
The Colombian actress does not respond to the comment at all, and instead looks quite clearly offended. This does not stop Ramsay, however, who then goes on to make more lewd comments throughout the segment, and at one point even touches Vergara's upper thigh.
"No touching!" she says in response to this - almost comedically, but with clear and serious intent.
A Twitter compilation of the most inappropriate moments has been making the rounds on social media, and many fans of the chef are outraged to discover him showing such blatant disrespect and crudeness.
"That was so uncomfortable to watch," said one person.
"The worst part is that it’s obvious she’s really unhappy with the situation but feels like she has to laugh along," added another. "It’s horrible."
And one person brought up the fact that Ramsay has a family. "How did his wife and children feel when they watched their husband and father aggressively sexually harass a women on national television?" they said.
Others, meanwhile, were annoyed that a fuss was being made over a clip that's almost a decade old.
"Why are you trying to lash out about something that is almost a decade old?" wrote one Twitter user. "There is a difference between holding someone accountable and digging up the passed because you’re bored. It’s like spanking a child for something the did 9 years ago (like when this interview was)."
The problem is, we all knew it was wrong back then - it shouldn't have taken someone like Harvey Weinstein being internationally shamed and punished for his behaviour for other people to change their actions. Plus, Ramsay wasn't a child. He was well aware of his actions and how Vergara was feeling, and yet he still acted inappropriately.
Ramsay may not have shown other behaviour like this since the interview in 2010, but this incident is yet another worrying reminder that even the most beloved of celebrities are capable of letting their fans down occasionally. Hopefully, he has learned from his mistakes.
