Taking a meaningful break. Alton Brown shared that he is postponing all of his Food Network events and other popular cooking videos in the wake of protests occurring all over the country in response to George Floyd’s death.
“The ‘live’ outside our kitchen is much more important than us going ‘live’ in our kitchen. #NoPlaceForHate,” the Good Eats: The Return host, 57, captioned an Instagram video of himself and his wife, Elizabeth Ingram.
“Given the circumstances of these trying times, Elizabeth and I are postponing our live online events this week, including those on the Food Network app and on YouTube,” he said on Monday, June 1.
However, the California native assured his fans that the break isn’t expected to last very long. “We do look forward to having you all over next week,” he added. “Until then, take care.”
Floyd, 46, died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee down on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. The incident was filmed in a now-viral video, which shows Floyd telling the officers, “I can’t breathe.” Though Chauvin was arrested, the three other officers involved in the incident remain free and protestors around the nation are refusing to stay silent.
Brown, who has been a popular chef and culinary personality for years, embraced quarantining amid the coronavirus pandemic in March with the debut of his YouTube series, Quarantine Kitchen. The live cooking show, which costars Ingram, features the pair whipping up tasty meals and snacks in a more relaxed setting than viewers are used to.
“It’s kind of the unplugged version of me,” Brown told Fast Company in April. “It’s really peculiar after all these years to have a new brand.”
The Feasting on Asphalt author added: “I have never seen responses to anything that I’ve done like [Quarantine Kitchen]. People are like, ‘Oh my gosh, after all these years of Good Eats, we get to see this completely other Alton. This Alton cusses. This is like Fun Alton.’ And people love my wife!”
Aside from Quarantine Kitchen, Brown also hosts the Food Network’s Good Eats: Reloaded, which features the culinary pro giving much needed upgrades to past recipes and cooking techniques from his original series Good Eats, which aired from 1999-2012.
The Alton Brown’s Great for Your Kitchen author is the latest culinary figure to speak out after Floyd’s murder. On Tuesday, June 2, days after Chrissy Teigen donated $200,000 to help pay for bail for people arrested while protesting Floyd’s death, her Cravings brand posted a powerful call for justice on Instagram.
“We stand with our founder and we’re so proud that she is fearless about standing up for justice and the freedom to peacefully protest,” the post read. “We at Cravings believe that every human being deserves the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and too many of our African-American brothers and sisters have been denied these rights for too long.”
