I think she should contact an attorney. The directly accused her of sabotage - it wasn't suggested, they flat-out said she did it. Yet, there was no proof. Given the fact that she had expenses to compete, and loss of income the day/days she was away from her business... I would try to recoup all of that, plus punitive damages. As much as I love Food Network, I think she needs to deliver a swift kick in the pants to them so that this type of thing doesn't happen to anyone else. (And think of all the extra exposure!) My guess would be that FN would settle it out of court and after only a threatening letter from the attorney.

I e-mailed Food Network this afternoon telling them exactly how I felt about their attempt to sabotage Courtney. I also told them to do the right thing and publicly apologize to her.

I urge you all to do the same. Just go to their site and there is a "contact us" tab.

Welcome Linda! I'm so sorry that they did this to your daughter. I've been slowly losing respect for the judges of the Challenge shows, this just gives me one more reason to dislike them all. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all just enjoy the decorators and their creations without the added drama from the judges? It's obvious that at least Kerry Vincent was involved in this from the get go. Disgusting and disappointing. I thought she had more class then to do something like this. I guess I was wrong.

I was watching this episode as well and the first thing that came to my mind was, "This is all for DRAMA!" For one, Kerry and the other judges should have discussed it with both contestants, instead of one. You could tell that the show had been edited so that the viewers could get that , "OMG, she dinged his cake and didn't say anything!" You have to take what you see on t.v. with a grain of salt because a lot of editing is done on those shows. Especially since it only took him a HOT(1 second) MINUTE to fix his cake and Kerry is sitting there talking about, "It's gonna take away from his time to fix it." They just needed an excuse to make that lady, (sorry, I forgot her name) look bad. The way they handled it was really unprofessional. It made the contestant look real bad and respect amongst your peers is a big thing.

Let us be fair. Last time I checked there are two sides to every story. The sound bite of Kerry has her saying "I learned the cake had been damaged" and last time I checked, that is not accusing. Also, It is never a good idea to move any cake that is not your own cake. I would consider it un.... professional.

They had cameras there... if they wanted to they could pick it apart frame by frame I imagine.

overall the mess up was handled in a very unprofessional way, and FN should be ashamed of possibly damaging one's career and doing it in the way they did. If competitors are unsportsmanlike, then don't invite them back, and don't allow them to win.

It would be hard to do, but besides taking 2 minutes (which in comp is ALOT of time) couldn't Courtney have gone to Jorge's table and said "I was moving cakes, and I don't know if I did it, or if it was already messed up and if I did it i am incredibly sorry"... but the only thing i don't like is she new about it. If Jorge knew (edited to spell right) about it, all he would say is ya i know!

I believe that Courtney was not malicious and not trying to sabotage, as I think Kerry put it, but alot of this could have been avoided by Courtney just going to Jorge.

She ASSUMED and you all know what happens....

Just picking myself up off the floor and just coming to grips that you have Cake Challanges on tv in the States -
Wow - we have the usual cooking shows - BUT a Cake Challange - never heard of it.

See - i learn something new everyday on CC.

Bh

I saw this program and it seemed to be staged. Did the cameraperson follow each contestant? When Jorg went to pick up his cake it definitely looked stage especially when he's saying he was going to get his cake and the way he looked into the camera. I think that FoodNetwork thought they were Bravo TV. Very unprofessional to not approach Courtney first.

I saw the episode, and obviously they needed something "dramatic" to focus on. I thought it was a joke. I mean, did it seriously set him back to frost a small ding???? Anyway, I agree that they have total footage they can pick apart if they wanted to.

Overall, it's disappointing that they had to reduce to such tactics to create a problem where there clearly wasn't one.

Great cake! And glad that you're on CakeCentral! You're very talented!

angie

I watched the show too and thought it was all too staged. The worst part of it was the fact that it could have contributed to how the cakes were judged. I thought Courtney's cake was the winner, but after the sabatoge thing, I knew she wouldn't win. It looked so fake to me, I thought it was all for the drama. And how ridiculous, all those cakes crowded in the frig, a little bump sure didn't amount to anything, there was no time wasted as Kerry said, it took a second to fix. I thought his cake was roughly iced anyway.

On the fence with this one.

This thread is about supporting Courtney for those of us who feel she was falsely accused and the situation was handled shodily. The whole entire country saw her be chastised for the dings in the cake.

So please voice your doubts and/or lack of support in another thread--this is about supporting her for her having been maligned publicly.

This is not about discerning right and wrong.
It's moral support for Courtney.

And I hope we don't rag on Kerry--she was probably as much a pawn in this as anyone. But regardless--this is about moral support for Courtney.

Go back and read and tell me no one ragged on Kerry?

I am not a fan of Kerry. She is a person and being that, I respect her a great deal. I suppose you can get up in arms about this entire thing. I know TV probabaly more than the average person. My husband works in the industry. Also, I have been interveiwed by FN several times for events that I have done. Did I ever say that I did not support anyone? I said that in any case it, is never good to move a cake not yours. I speak from a Chef stand point. When you use the word professionalism in the food Industry is applies to several factors. Courtney has won challenges and obviously is getting a bit of press over this. I urge you to to listen to what exactly came out of Kerry's sound bite. She learned...be what it may and flame all you want. Those who know me as a person and not a screen name on a forum, know that I am a huge supporter of the cake art. Last time I checked this is a public forum. How is blasting everyone support? Courtney does amazing work and so did Sousa who won. To open a thread such as this it will surely bring out every opinion whether you like it or not. Nothing is going to be daisies and roses when competing for ten grand. So, great work to all who competed.

Thank you for the welcome! And thanks for contacting the FN with your thoughts on the cake challenge. At the very least maybe they will think twice before pulling this kind of stunt on someone else.
Linda

It stinks that the FN think so little of their competitor's reputations, that they're willing to compromise them for a little drama.

KV WAS the one that sat there berating Courtney in front of all the others. I'm sure she could have said to the producers off camera, "I want no part of this."

The entire thing is a shame. For me it takes the excitement and anticipation for a new episode away.

Rambling is subjective. As for my last quoted remark it was in reply to all the Quoting you are doing. So, I should have said in support of this thread supporting Courtney, I choose to see both sides of the competition. I was questioned about beating someone down.....Funny how that is. Have a fabulous night and see everyone on the flip side!

Courtney, I can't wait to see your next and thankfully last episode in April.

Once again I want to say that the way the cake ding issue was handled by Food Network was appalling -- that a jr high clique could not have edited and produced that phoney drama any worse.

Thousands of viewers saw right through it--including the 8 year old daughter of our poster upthread. Geez what a kid! So please continue to understand that you are not alone at all and we've got your back.

When Keegan emceed the World Pastry Forum he stated publicly several times that it is much better for food shows when Food Network is not involved. He was genuinley happy they were not behind the cameras for that event.

I love your work, I admire you for your gutsy-ness to even appear on tv much less produce such stunning creations live. You are a class act and the cream's gonna rise to the top, Girlfriend.

((((( giant hug )))))

To Linda, you gotta be so proud of your little girl!!!
And what a sweet supportive Momma you are!!!

I would be crushed if something like this happened to me...

~Hugs~, Courtney, we love ya!

(btw, I've eaten your cupcakes before, and they are soooo good. You are amazing! Go Blue )