Rachael Ray: Celebs Who Didn't Hold Back Their Distaste For The Chef

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Rachael Ray has had a staggering downfall from fame in recent years. According to the New York Times, in 2006, thousands of people flocked to eagerly join the "Rachael Ray Sucks Community." Misty Lane, the owner of the LiveJournal blog in question, explained its purpose in the description, writing, "This community was created for people that hate the untalented twit known as Rachael Ray." Safe to say that a large group of like-minded individuals found each other because the blog was quickly flooded with criticisms of everything from Ray's voice and looks, to her cooking skills, and the supposedly poor state of her kitchen. In particular, Lane took issue with how the beloved celebrity chef became a prominent voice in the world of food, despite, they argued, only hashing out basic advice. 

When the hate club came up again during a 2024 episode of the "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" podcast, fellow chef Anne Burrell confessed that she couldn't believe someone would use their time and energy to run a website like that. However, Ray wasn't all that bothered by the haters because they tuned into her show to gather their critiques, which ultimately works out in her favor — especially financially. The famed cook shared a similar opinion when she appeared on "Milk Street Radio" in 2019, reasoning, "Not everybody's going to like you, and that's OK with me." Ray continued, "I do believe that the love you give is equal to the love you take in. You have to put good out to receive good back." The TV personality has taken a similar kill them with kindness approach with celebs who aren't fond of her.

One of Rachael Ray's most controversial moments happened back in 2007, when she took on an endorsement deal for Dunkin'. A portion of the general public was unhappy with the celebrity chef's outfit choice in the popular donut chain's commercials, believing that the black and white scarf she donned was a symbol for an extremist group. Ray also earned criticism from fellow celebrity chefs for taking on the lucrative endorsement deal. As Page Six noted at the time, the late Anthony Bourdain slammed the business move in a chat with Outside magazine, raging, "She's got a magazine, a TV empire, all these best-selling books — I'm guessing she's not hurting for money. She's hugely influential, particularly with children. And she's endorsing Dunkin' Donuts. It's like endorsing crack for kids." 

The late TV star found the endorsement to be even more distasteful considering that obesity was on the rise among adults and children alike. However, a spokesperson for Ray fired back, pointing out that her fans were well aware that she championed balance, not excessive consumption. Ultimately, though, the backlash seemingly left Dunkin' with no choice but to ax the campaign. Despite everything, Ray told ABC News in 2009 that she stood by her decision to endorse the brand. Moreover, she directly addressed Bourdain's critiques. "I absolutely love Tony Bourdain," the bestselling author confirmed. "I have an enormous amount of respect for him. It's a free country." According to a 2018 Page Six report, he also referred to Ray as a "freakazoid" and a "bobblehead" who "can't cook." 

During a 2009 interview with ABC News, Martha Stewart directly questioned Rachael Ray's cooking skills. The iconic TV personality had an issue with Ray's decision to release a cookbook that primarily consisted of altered versions of her already published recipes. Stewart further explained that she would never go down that road because she wanted her cookbooks to be worth the space they took up in a library and to stand the test of time. 

Likewise, the homemaking icon proclaimed, "She's more of an entertainer than she is, with her bubbly personality, than she is a teacher, like me. That's not what she's professing to be." In addition to claiming that Ray had told her she couldn't bake, Stewart sniped that she had hardly ever seen her make use of a home garden on her show either. According to a 2009 Us Weekly article, the Food Network star wasn't offended by her remarks. 

"I don't consider it needling. I really just think she's being honest. She does have a better skill set than I do when it comes to producing a beautiful, perfect, high-quality meal," Ray argued. While Stewart was cooking up a storm with Emeril Lagasse shortly afterward, she asserted that there was no bad blood between the two of them, and further commended Ray for her impact on the world of home cooking. Likewise, during a 2014 appearance on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," Ray credited trailblazers like Stewart and Lagasse for creating career opportunities at the Food Network for people like her.

In Allen Salkin's 2013 book "From Scratch: Inside the Food Network," he disclosed that Emeril Lagasse wasn't too fond of fellow celebrity chef Rachael Ray, reportedly warning that she "doesn't know anything about food" and, as such, "I would not put her on the [Food Network]." Although it's unclear why Lagasse formed that opinion, there's a chance that his dislike may have stemmed from her early days with the network. In Ray's own 2019 book "Rachael Ray 50," she shared that her nerves got the best of her during her first day, and she accidentally set a fire in Lagasse's kitchen. While he laughed off the mishap during a guest appearance on "The Rachael Ray Show," he may have been more annoyed than he let on. 

Ray similarly caught the ire of another Food Network star too: Giada De Laurentiis. While speaking to Hamptons magazine in 2014, the "Giada At Home" star admitted that one of her biggest career regrets was teaming up with Bobby Flay and ultimately losing to Ray and Mario Batali in an "Iron Chef" battle. "It will bother me until the day I die and Bobby knows that. He thinks I'm ridiculous, but it is what it is," De Laurentiis said (via Delaware Online). Moreover, she regretted her participation because her husband cautioned her that she would be out of her depth against the seasoned cooks, but she did it anyway. The sting of the loss was only exacerbated by people continuing to rub it in her face years later.

Over the years, there have been several times when David Letterman went too far on "The Letterman Show." As a result, he wasn't afraid to grill Rachael Ray when she appeared on the hit talk show in 2010. As Eater reported at the time, before the celebrity chef walked out, Letterman delivered an impassioned monologue about obesity in America and then ranted about the state of food-centric TV shows, quipping, "There's a million different shows on American television, and there's one: Cupcake Wars. You realize there's a billion people in the world starving every day, and there's a group of a**holes having fights over cupcakes." Amidst his monologue, the legendary talk show host forewarned Ray that she would have to provide a good explanation for the state of food TV shows when she finally came out. As promised, Letterman questioned why some of the wealthiest Food Network stars and other TV cooks didn't donate their entire salaries to charitable organizations. 

Ray didn't go on the defensive, instead agreeing with his concerns. She also addressed his critique about obesity by asserting that people could easily make more nutrient-dense swaps for their favorite recipes, such as using wholewheat pasta instead of regular pasta. However, Letterman didn't let her finish her point, countering that the more nutrient-dense alternatives often didn't taste as good, and reiterating that obesity was such a glaring issue because people had tons of options for over-consumption. Letterman later apologized to the Food Network star, insisting, "[Ray] didn't do anything wrong" and acknowledging that he "got carried away" during her interview segment (via the Boston Herald).

In a 2025 Slate article, cookbook author Sara Dickerman slammed Rachael Ray despite mostly focusing on Gordon Ramsay. While critiquing the state of the Food Network, she complained that she had to watch "endless hours of Rachael Ray, who dines out on the cheap and cooks on the fly, chirpily renouncing such culinary values as elegance, subtlety, and perhaps even flavor." Dickerman drove her point home by pointing out that the celebrity chef had a recipe for a Mini-Cheeseburger Salad on her website. 

While the author took issue with Ray's content, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin had problems with her Dunkin' collaboration. In a 2008 Townhall post, she wrote that the scarf she wore in the ads was a keffiyeh, which she perceived as a "symbol of murderous Palestinian jihad." Malkin believed Ray couldn't feign ignorance about her supposedly controversial clothing choice because she had shouted out a different Urban Outfitters scarf on her website, and the company got major backlash for selling a scarf that resembled a keffiyeh, which they eventually had to remove from the site. Thus, Malkin posited that either Ray or her stylist had to have been aware of the significance. 

After Dunkin' watched the criticisms pour in, they released a statement to assert that the scarf bore no symbolism and was a simple item that had been selected by their stylist. However, they still agreed to pull the ad to avoid the possibility of "misperception." Still, the decades-old controversy was one of the many rumors about Ray that we can't ignore.