Diners, Drive-Ins, and Douchebags Part Deux

I've already called Guy Fieri a douchebag in a previous post, and this not only confirms it but adds to it:

Fieri stopped showing up for scheduled shoots. He canceled voiceover sessions. [DDD Producer David] Page tried to herd his host, but Fieri wouldn't return the producer's calls.

Then Food Network officials told Page they were taking the reins from him. Page remembers general manager Bob Tuschman saying Fieri had "demanded" it.

This May, Page sued the network for breach of contract. In August, the Food Network answered with a counterclaim alleging it was Page who breached the contract by "mistreating staff and others working on the series."

Now Page is lashing out at Guy Fieri in a no-holds-barred brawl that threatens to swallow the hit show and its star.

"Guy will say whatever he needs to say to prop up his image of Guy as a really nice guy," Page says. "Everyone has to be part of Team Fieri. Team Fieri didn't feel any such reciprocal obligation."

...

"You have to protect Guy from all of his poop jokes," Page says. "Anytime any woman mentioned 'cream,' Guy went into a sexual riff. When cutting the show, you had to tell the editors to watch Guy's eye line, because it's always on breasts."

Fieri also needed protection from homosexuals, or at least advance warning. Early in the show's run, Page got a phone call from Fieri, who'd just walked out of a restaurant in a huff.

"Guy had decided that the two men running the restaurant were life partners," Page remembers. "He said, 'You can't send me to talk to gay people without warning! Those people weird me out!'"

From then on, show researchers were required to note any indications of homosexuality detected during pre-interviews. (Fieri declined to comment for this story through his spokespeople.)

Former field producer Kari Kloster confirms that Fieri made the odd demand about gay guests, and says she witnessed the star become more controlling on set.

...

When the second book was commissioned, Fieri approached Page to ask for access to some of the show's research material. That led to an "uncomfortable discussion" over compensation, Page claims.

"They were demanding tremendous research from my people, and pictures, but they didn't want to pay for them," Page says. "Guy said to me: 'You know, it's true: Jews are cheap.'"

Read the full story here. David Page is kind of a douchebag himself, and we all know two douchebags can only get along for so long before something like this happens.