By Ryan Deffenbaugh . Published on March 06, 2019.
Celebrity chef Mario Batali has given up his share of the restaurants he has owned for 20 years in partnership with the Bastianich family of restaurateurs, according to a report in The New York Times.
The Times report comes more than a year after several women accused Batali of sexual harassment and assault. Batali will "no longer profit from the restaurants in any way, shape or form," Tanya Bastianich Manuali told The Times. Bastianich Manuali will head day-to-day operations for a not-yet-named company that will replace Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group.
The new company operates the group's remaining 16 restaurants, which include nine in Manhattan. Batali is also selling his shares in Eataly, the chain of Italian supermarkets with two Manhattan locations, according to The Times' report.
Batali stepped down from daily operations at the business in Dec. 2017, shortly after the website Eater reported that four women alleged Batali touched them inappropriately as part of a pattern of behavior that spanned at least two decades.
Several of the restaurant group's locations have closed since the accusations, The Times reports. The group's newest restaurant, La Sirena in the meatpacking district, closed in December.
In January, the New York City Police Department closed three investigations of sexual assault against Batali, saying it could not find enough evidence to make an arrest.