Celebrity News
‘Barefoot Contessa’ Ina Garten Can’t Find Time For 6-Year-Old Cancer Patient
(HMG Celebrity News) – Perhaps this was a situation where her business management unwisely handled her arrangements but this really reflects poorly on Food Network star Ina Garten. TMZ reports that the Make-A-Wish Foundation asked the Barefoot Contessa if she would grant the wish of a 6-year-old cancer patient named Enzo, by cooking him a meal. Enzo, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia three years ago, asked Make-A-Wish if they would help him meet Ina Garten. Enzo regularly watches her show on the Food Network with his mother.
When Ina’s people told the foundation that she was too busy with her book tour to visit with Enzo, he said that he’d wait until her schedule cleared up. That was last year. M-A-W approached Ina again this year, but she once again said no she was just too busy.
Ina’s rep, tells TMZ that she can’t always grant wishes because of her schedule: “Despite her demanding schedule, [Ina] participates and helps as many organizations as she can throughout the year, helping children and adults like Enzo with life threatening and compromising illnesses. ”
M-A-W took the high road with Ina by saying that she’s a good friend of the foundation and sometimes wishes don’t work out. That’s a hard thing to swallow especially when Enzo, asked his parents, “Why doesn’t she want to meet me?” Enzo has now chosen another wish, which the foundation has been able to grant — the brave little boy is currently taking lessons to prepare for his new dream: to swim with dolphins.
TMZ is despicable to publish this story without verifying the information and there are close to 800 hate filled comments with calls for boycotting her. I am a fan of hers and this is disgusting on the part of TMZ. Never knew there was so much hatred by people who are simply commenting a story which may not be true.
I agree Hassa that you have to be careful with stories like this. But lets not be in denial here either. TMZ got quotes from Ina’s rep and Make a Wish, as well as the parents.
Thank you for responding. While I do not believe the whole story, what I have a problem with is the super angry hate filled comments that are being leveled at this lady. She may not even know about this and her reputation is taking a hit today. The comments about her weight, her food and her husband are beyond disgusting.
Yes people don’t seem to need much of an excuse anymore to leave very hateful remarks.
I know some of the parties involved in this situation and it is completely true.
At a very elemental level this is disturbing because Ina Garten has other priorities that include cooking dinner for Hamptonites that take precedence over the dream of a dying child. I would cancel everything on my schedule and come running if I was able to give that kind of gift to anyone’s child in trouble.
Hate is never right but neither is blind faith in someone who clearly has done something wrong.
I will never watch her show again and will contribute my consumer dollars to a more deserving soul. That is my rational choice and I hope that many others will follow.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion just as I am. The majority of the comments are so out of left field I question the intelligence of the person making them since they have so much hatred for someone they do not know and will never know. I will continue to support Ina but as I said before TMZ is known for printing half truths and stands back and watches the vitriol pour forth.
Hassa must be on someone’s PR payroll , I see that you are posting multiple times on multiple sites.
Ina Garten has become a pariah – she is a disgusting person as demonstrated by her lack of compassion for a terminally ill child. As a public figure, she owes her success to those of us who have watched her show and bought her merchandise. She has a right to decide how to invest her time , and the public likewise has the right to choose not to spend time or money on anything associated with her.
So far, no story has actually described Enzo as terminally ill or dying. His type of leukemia actually has an 80% to 90% cure rate now in kids, and he’s been in remission two years now. The treatment is rough, definitely, but he has a good chance of making it. Make A Wish is not just for dying children, but also for children facing special challenges in dealing with various illnesses.
I think some adult in his life jumped the gun on this to guilt-trip Ina Garten into doing something that just hasn’t fit into her schedule. Scheduling conflicts happen a lot with Make A Wish. I’m sure she has someone else deciding her schedule to avoid situations like this, so she can have a life (which she does deserve). There will always be more demands on her time than she can meet. This is true for all of us, we all have to make choices. I would wonder why the boy’s parents didn’t try harder to redirect his wish. I know kids can be stubborn, but maybe there is more to this relating to an adult’s wish rather than just a kid’s wish.
Well, so far I’ve posted on two sites on this matter and I’m not on anybody’s payroll. I’m doing probably what hassa did – looking for more information and happened upon this site. There is something not right about this story, and I don’t think Ina Garten is what’s not right. It’s damaging to Make A Wish, too — it could discourage people from participating because of what would happen if they can’t help with a particular wish and someone in the “wisher’s” family decided to publicize it. Think about it – confidentiality should be important for such an organization for just that reason. How would you like it if some organization told national media that you didn’t include them in your charitable giving this year, and then people started trashing you as selfish and uncaring? Everybody has the right to decide what they can support and what they can’t, we all have a limited amount of time, energy, and money. That includes people with tv shows on the Food Network.
Hassa, why are you so angry, are you really Ina or Jeffrey, the woman could have tried to fulfill his wish, called him or some other positive action, than simply a no. She must be selfish and you can defend her as much as you want but she showed her true colors.
@jwoolman
Oh. My. God.
You are fantastic.
This is my younger brother we are talking about.
Enzo is not terminal. He is not dying. As far as I’m concerned, he is one of the most alive people I know. He’s going to be done with treatment by June and while yes, the treatment is rough, he is doing very well, and I know will make it to the finish line just fine.
The part where you are mildly mistaken, is where you think that we WANTED to guilt trip Ina. We were sad at first yes, but this whole story has gone viral and incredibly out of control. We don’t mean to give her bad publicity, but obviously someone who reads Enzo’s website, decided to take it upon themselves to notify and tip TMZ two days ago. It has since then spiraled out of control. My parents were not quoted, because we never spoke to the press. The story was released before they were even given a chance to be interviewed. I’m not exactly sure where they got the quotes to begin with anyway.
We asked him repeatedly if he wanted to meet Ina and he did. We didn’t force him into anything, and it’s not anyone else in my families wish. This is for Enzo.
He was definitely upset at first, but eventually got over it.
I just hope that this doesn’t get anymore out of control. :[
If you want to read more about Enzo, feel free to go to his website:
http://angelsforenzo.com/
-Katina
Enzo’s 16 year old sister.
Oh PLease ! How do you think the Child feels? And YES… the story is explosive enough for people WITH feelings… What do you expect people to say? And Most just want to ‘get it of their chest’ and simply express their feelings. I suppose there’s two common ways of doing this. 1. “Oh gee, that wasn’t very nice” or 2. ” Who the heck would do something outrageous as deny a child a wish – especially to see you”… I don’t know what you’d call that person (latter statement).. I do think ‘bitcvh’ fits very well.
Ina Garten needs to be fired and her cookbooks blacklisted. As the Foodie Gossip said it, the child had so many wishes to pick from and he picked her over everything – even better chefs.
To Huey & Eastcoast – No, I am not on someone’s PR Payroll, and if I seem angry it is because there are people posting on TMZ that are commenting on her weight, her looks, her husband and her food. What does this have to do with the subject being discussed. TMZ is known for stirring the pot by posting half information and letting the public “go” after someone. They post a story and do not bother to verify the whole situation. What does her personal life have to do with this story.
I agree that attacking her is not the way to go. It just confounds, though, that her camp could not simply have sent him a goodies basket or something, anything. A few kind words….um…wow…
Also, what are some specific examples of TMZ’s “half truths” and stirring the pot? The guy who runs it is a former attorney and I am sure he knows what he can get away with publishing without solid proof, which is why TMZ gets brought up in court from everything from the L. Lohan mess to the recent “Pawn Stars” guys getting busted by the Pentagon for having a freaking illegal nuclear arm. I dont like their humor but they seem to know what is up or they would have been brought down a long time ago.
This to me is just emotional blackmail. She’s under no obligation to meet the child, moral, legal or otherwise.
How would anyone like it if every incident of a homeless person who’ve asked you for money and you didn’t give any where publicized and made to villify you as a heartless person? It’s happened to every one of us. You shouldn’t feel obligated to give that person money and Ina should feel obligated that she didn’t meet the child.
I’m sure the kid has many wishes that the organization can satisfy.
Yes, Katina – I believe you when you say your family didn’t try to give Ina such bad publicity. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that when they post something on a website (their own or someone else’s), it’s just for a cozy little group. But we always have to realize that once we put something on the net – it gets a life of its own and anybody can read it and then use it for their own agenda.
I think you’re right that somebody who read the website decided to go on a campaign. I wonder if it was one of those never-ending e-mail campaigns (“send this to 10 of your friends”, they go on for years without stopping…). I don’t think it’s just a matter of TMZ being tipped off, although that was obviously part of it and TMZ in its usual irresponsible fashion didn’t bother checking further. I plowed through the huge number of TMZ comments, and it was obvious the overwhelming majority of posters really weren’t viewers of the show or familiar with her cookbooks, although quite a few tried to pretend they were so they could claim they were “boycotting” her and burning (!) her books. We see this kind of feeding frenzy periodically on TMZ particularly, a flurry of new people post because they’ve been directed to a story on TMZ by an e-mail list or a website. Quite bizarre. Sorry your family has had to deal with it at all.
I wonder if Enzo fixated on Ina because she’s so low-key and he was so exhausted with chemo, so somebody higher energy wouldn’t be as appealing? Who knows. Kids are unpredictable and their minds work in mysterious ways… Well, hope he continues to do well and your family gets to relax!