Mr. Batali had observed her taking a photo of him with her phone, and told her to “come here right now,” the complaint said. The complaint seemed to match an allegation made by Natali Tene, who filed a lawsuit against Mr. Batali in August. Lawyers for Ms. Tene did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday night. Batali denies the allegations in both this criminal complaint and the civil complaint filed last August,” Anthony E. Fuller, a lawyer for Mr. Batali, said in a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday. Mr. Batali also sold his shares in Eataly, the fast-growing global chain of luxury Italian supermarkets.

Source: New York Times May 23, 2019 04:25 UTC