Any six-year-old boy whose hero isn't Spiderman, but the Barefoot Contessa, is worth meeting. This particular boy also has leukemia. Through the Make-a-Wish foundation, he asked for the chance to cook with Food Network star Ina Garten, but was turned down...twice."As much as [Garten] would like to, it's absolutely impossible for her to grant every request she receives," Garten's rep told TMZ,That may be true, but how many requests is she getting from cancer stricken 6-year-olds? Hey, Let's Prioritize Ina.
Enzo, the little boy, so desperately wanted to meet the chef he'd watched on TV, he held onto the wish after the foundation was turned down the first time. A year later he asked to meet her again, and again her handlers cited scheduling conflicts and gave the foundation a "definite no".
That's when Enzo was told to pick another wish. Now he's going to swim with dolphins, all of whom are not too busy to carry a kid on their fin for the day. Maybe all this bad press will have Ina reconsidering the request.
UPDATE: March 28,2011 - Ina Garten, the Food Network star known as "The Barefoot Contessa," has been at the center of controversy following reports she twice refused to meet a young fan with cancer.
Garten was widely condemned when news of the alleged snub broke online. But according to one of her spokespeople, it was only this weekend that Garten learned that a young boy named Enzo had a long-standing request to meet her through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The spokesperson said that Garten receives about 100 requests per month, and she hadn't been made aware of this particular request.
Garten reportedly called Enzo today and invited him to join her at the Food Network studios.
Garten's spokespeople released a statement commenting on the incident.
"(Garten) contributes both personally and financially on a regular basis to numerous causes, including to Make-A-Wish Foundation," the statement read. "Sadly, it's of course not possible to do them all. Throughout her life, Ina has contributed generously to all kinds of important efforts and she will continue to do so."
Enzo would watch Garten from his sick bed, and his family twice asked for a meeting with her through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Following the second request, Garten's representatives gave the family a "definite no" and the boy's family wrote about the rejection on their blog. The story was later picked up by TMZ and soon became a major scandal for Garten.
But even during the worst of the controversy, Enzo's family wrote that they didn't want to cause Garten trouble.
"I had written about our disappointment when we originally found out, but asked everyone in the spirit of Enzo to please just 'let it go' and move forward... I want to make it VERY CLEAR we have NO ANGER OR ILL WILL toward Ina Garten... Enzo found great comfort in watching her cook when he was going through his toughest times and for that we are so grateful."
Garten has been "personally devastated" by all the criticism, a source told the LA Times.
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