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Chefs and Celebrities React to Barilla Chairman's Anti-Gay Comments
Guido Barilla (L) and Nicoletta Barilla (R) arrive at the Julian Schnabel Opening Exhibition on May 31, 2011 in Venice, Italy. Guido Barilla made anti-gay comments to Italian radio on Wednesday. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)
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Guido Barilla, the chairman of the world's largest pasta manufacturer, set off a worldwide firestorm with his anti-gay comments in an interview with Radio 24 on Wednesday.
"I would never do (a commercial) with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect but because we don't agree with them," Barilla said. "Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role."
In the interview Barilla said he opposed adoption by gay parents but was in favor of gay marriage according to the Reuters story. Also from Reuters: If gays "like our pasta and our advertising, they'll eat our pasta, if they don't like it then they will not eat it and they will eat another brand," he said.
As expected, the reaction has come pouring in. Author of Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook and local food advocate Amelia Saltsman tweeted:
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Even noodles can have an agenda: http://t.co/EKbPHX6l0D
— Amelia Saltsman (@ameliasaltsman) September 26, 2013
Food activist and lesbian chef Alli Sosna tweeted:
wow- never eating Barilla pasta again
— Chef Alli Sosna, MPH (@ChefAlliSosna) September 26, 2013
Other celebrities have also weighed in:
Gay people have to start eating carbs again so that we can stop eating the carbs this asshole is peddling: http://t.co/aafBj5F8rh #barilla
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) September 26, 2013
And the memes have started:
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No matter if you like #farfalle or #maccheroni . Just #LOVE #boicottabarilla #barilla #omofobia pic.twitter.com/vanS5FHlRD
— Geremia Bombino (@GeremiaBombino) September 26, 2013
Barilla issued an apology on Thursday saying he wanted to highlight the role women play in the family.
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