8 Serious Scandals Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives Couldn't Shake Off

"Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" is one of Food Network's most recognizable shows, largely thanks to its host, Guy Fieri. From his frosted hair tips to his penchant for calling things "money," the man's impossible to ignore. Stopping at various locations across the country, Fieri praised barbecue joints and highlighted regional cuisines made by personalities nearly as big as his own.

While his persona helped put the show on the map, it also made the production's biggest scandals public spectacles and even pulled the show into some seemingly unrelated issues. Still, the ratings for the show remain high. In fact, it's currently Food Network's fourth most popular show, per US TVDB. Fieri himself remains somewhat divisive, but dozens of restaurants from his brands dot the country. And the show isn't going anywhere, either. "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" has been airing since 2007 and is currently in its 55th season. Here are a few of the problems the show was never able to leave in the rearview mirror.

"Triple D," as the show is popularly known, has a massive effect on the businesses that are featured. In fact, the "Triple D" effect is a well-known phenomena among restaurants that make it on-air. The eateries report drastic increases in sales, with some noting as much as a 500% jump, per Twin Cities Business. But that's only if the business is able to pass multiple phone interviews and shooting days first.

Restaurants also have to close for two to four days during filming and have ingredients on-hand for every item on the menu. As you can imagine, those expenses add up quickly, with some spots reporting it cost between $12,000 and $15,000 to appear on the show. While the "Triple D" effect can definitely help offset that, there's no guarantee the restaurant will be featured, even after jumping through all the hoops the production team can throw at them. It's the latter cases that have caused the show's fans to question the ethics behind the way the show works.

One of the biggest scandals to hit "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" was in its early years. In 2011, the show's creator and producer, David Page, alleged Fieri had made unsavory remarks throughout the early years of production. In a 2011 interview with the now-defunct publication City Pages, the producer talked about Fieri's penchant for ogling women and making inappropriate remarks, (via the Tampa Bay Times). Page also recounted a time when the show's star called him to demand to be informed about interviewing LGBTQ+ people.

Page was speaking with the paper about a lawsuit he'd filed against Food Network earlier in 2011, alleging the company was pushing him out of the show he'd created. Page ultimately settled the suit, so the comments about Fieri appeared seemingly out of nowhere a few months later. Page's breach of contract filing brought a countersuit from the network (but more on that in a second).

When Page filed his lawsuit in May 2011, Food Network responded by counter-filing for $1.5 million against him in August of the same year, noted The Hollywood Reporter. The network alleged that they exited the contract with Page after he'd created an intolerable work environment. The suit provided examples of emails Page had sent berating staff. There were also allegations in the suit that Page cost the network money by not providing footage on time.

Only a few weeks after the network filed its countersuit, the company and Page settled out of court for undisclosed terms, added The Hollywood Reporter. Food Network retained the rights to make the show, which it began producing with Citizen Pictures, a production company based in Denver, Colorado. Although the working relationship between the show's creator, its star, and the host network fell apart, "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" itself remains a staple on Food Network's lineup.

It's no secret that Guy Fieri isn't a fan of eggs. He has an aversion to the common ingredient that costed particularly eggy dishes the spotlight on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." But other things, like liver, weren't his favorites, either. Longtime watchers of "Triple D" knew when the host didn't like one of the items served to him. Fieri's tells included talking about the ingredients used to make something instead of the dish itself,or simply saying he "understands" why the dish is popular.

Still, even if fans could pinpoint the moment Fieri decided if he liked a meal or not, he was always polite with his opinions while filming. He even told Brian Koppelman on his podcast that while he might not love every dish he's served, that's just the way it goes sometimes. He said he's even give advice to cooks on the show when they asked for it.

Around 300 of the the 1,600 restaurants highlighted on "Triple D" have closed since the show began in 2007 (over 18 years ago), according to Flavortown USA. While this may sound like a lot of businesses that closed, it is actually less than you might think, at only around 18%. That's a pretty good margin for almost 20 years. The "Triple D" effect can't keep a business going forever, but it can bring attention to a place and give it a second life. But many people aren't doing that kind of math, so when they hear about 300 businesses closed after being featured on the show, it can put a bad spin on "Triple D's" image.

The restaurant industry is brutal, with many restaurants going out of business within the first five years. So while it might be tempting to blame something like "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" for increasing the pressure on a place operating on a thin margin, things like rising food prices and the amount of competition an eatery faces play big parts like the show does.

Fieri's fame sometimes had a detrimental effect on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." For instance, in 2022, one of his restaurants in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee brought a lawsuit alleging the company wasn't following federal labor laws and was mistreating staff through wage theft, noted Tennessee Lookout. The Downtown Flavortown location was supposedly requiring tipped employees to work for less pay while performing non-essential tasks.

Then there was a second, unrelated Guy Fieri lawsuit involving the winner of a Food Network competition show Fieri had hosted. "Guy's Chance of a Lifetime" was supposed to award the winner, Kevin Cooper, a $100,000 yearly salary, a waived franchise fee worth $50,000, and other benefits for operating a branch of Fieri's Chicken Guy! chain. Cooper alleged that Fieri failed to pay him or the location's operating cost. The lawsuits didn't involve "Triple D" directly, but anything attached to Fieri's name will inevitably be linked back to the juggernaut show he hosts.

In 2013, Fieri was recorded in the midst of a physical confrontation with his hairstylist, Ariel Ramirez. A video showed Ramirez repeatedly hitting Fieri through the open door of an SUV and shouting. Fieri allegedly kicked the hairstylist out of the car after the video ended. The two were reportedly intoxicated during the incident, and a clip of them fighting was sent to the tabloid site, TMZ. TMZ published the video in late October 2013 with quotes from a representative of Fieri's saying the fight had gotten out of hand and it was "just dudes being dudes."

Apparently, the two men had been drinking on a flight into San Francisco International Airport and lost control during the argument home. While the incident was relatively minor, it made a splash online. Some fans went as far as citing the fight in a social media post about how it had changed their perception of him.

"Triple D" host Guy Fieri is a fan of the Chicago food scene, and Anthony Bourdain also loved Chicago restaurants, but that's where the similarities stop. The two had drastically different takes on food in general. While Fieri is known for taking fans to Flavortown, Bourdain was a fan of unpretentious fare. So when Fieri burst onto the scene in 2007 with "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," it didn't take Bourdain long to notice. In fact, in 2008, Bourdain told TV Guide that he thought Fieri had been "designed by committee."

In 2012, Bourdain made comments about Fieri's Times Square restaurant on the Opie & Anthony show. Among other things, he mentioned not understanding why there'd be a gift shop in the eatery and disparaged the "cheap food" and $18 burgers. Fieri didn't directly reply, but in a 2017 interview with Time, he remarked that Bourdain would have to know him in order to give him any advice. The Guy Fieri and Anthony Bourdain traded numerous jabs throughout the years, with some noting the rivalry came down to Bourdain being a trained chef with a sociopolitical view of food, while Fieri was the polar opposite. No matter the origins or cause of their issues, the two men both had enormously popular shows and fanbases more than willing to take their sides.