'Barefoot Contessa' Ina Garten Refuses to Meet 6-Year-Old Cancer Patient

By Sarah Crow Posted Mar 25th 2011 12:45PM

Ina Garten is cooking up some seriously bad karma along with her culinary creations.

Garten, known to many by her TV moniker 'Barefoot Contessa,' has refused to meet a 6-year-old boy suffering from cancer, despite his multiple pleas.

The boy, Enzo, is suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia and reached out to Garten through the Make-A-Wish Foundation for the first time three years ago, asking for the celebrity chef to take time to cook with him.

His request fell upon deaf ears, however. Garten's rep told TMZ, "As much as [Garten] would like to, it's absolutely impossible for her to grant every request she receives."

The little boy, who specifically requested to meet Garten because he had watched her show while sick in bed, made a second request through Make-A-Wish, which was met with a "definite no."

Enzo, who asked his parents, "Why doesn't she want to meet me?" has chosen another wish, which the foundation has been able to grant -- the brave little boy is currently taking lessons to prepare for his new dream: to swim with dolphins.

Make-A-Wish issued a statement regarding Garten's refusal of Enzo's request, writing, "From time to time, planning for wishes doesn't turn out as originally envisioned, despite people's best intentions and efforts throughout the wish-granting process."

Watch Ina Garten make Bloody Marys.

Tags: Barefoot Contessa, ina garten

Comments

(616)

Friday 25 March

By anna

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what a loser...I will not watch her anymore because of this!!!! she was one of my favs...NO MORE

By laberry615

You don't have to grant every request, but one from a cancer stricken 6 year old? Heartless.

By annettealdrich

As much as I would like to, it's absolutely impossible for me to watch everything on TV. Therefore I will not be able to watch Ina's show.

By Bertie

I have lost all respect fro her and will no longer whatch her shows.I will also make sure to let everyone know about this. Does she have any children???? Wonder if her sponsors are aware of this.

By bellsheri

I never liked her show anyways. She was alway such a bore. I can't believe she would refuse a sick child. Shame on her!!!

By TIna-NJ

That is just HORRIBLE!!!! It's amazing how some people have NO HEART!!! What would it take only but a few hours for her to teach him some cooking and give a hug and kiss to make his day PLEASANT!!!!

By Jeannie

I just recently became a fan of her show...but, b/c of her refusal to make time for a sick child her tv show will never grace the screen on any tv in my home again.Guess she's forgotten why she's a food star"Fan's".......g..Shame on you Ina Garten...

By K

I wonder if she realizes that by not taking out a little time for this sick child, that she has hurt hurself far more than him. This will tarnish her reputation, as it should. I have never understood and will never understand why "celebraties" think that they are so far above everyone else!

Saturday 26 March

By v

I am pretty sure I WAS your biggest fan, but now, I feel sorry for you. Like to hear from you with your reason for not HELPING!! Alot of your fans have so been there for you, why can't U show a little(ALOT) kindness and graditued to us in return

don't think I AM A FAN ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Patricia Monnett

I am NOT watching her show. When a child is terminally ill you make exceptions. SHAME ON YOU INA. You are horrible and a bad person.

Friday 01 April

By turtlewomyn46

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What a pathetic person. She just lost me as a viewer.

By JennJ

Too busy?!?! This little boy is DYING! There is nothing, NOTHING in the world that is THAT important for which you can't take time from your precious little life (being sarcastic) to grant the wish of a DYING child. My Word!

By Dana DeMott

Wow, she must have been born with a "blackened" heart! I loved her show, but I will NEVER watch again! How sad!

By Layne Mitchell

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Something sounds fishy here. How many 6-year-old boys do you know whose life long dream is to meet somebody from the food network?

By lizzie

what a shame. and yeah, she is so understated and doesn't make anything really fun for kids. as someone else pointed out, too bad the child wan't a fan of someone like Paula Deen or even Sandra Lee, who show much more enthusiasm and sometimes make things geared toward the little ones. i never watched her much before, because her show is rather boring, but i now would find it hard to see her without thinking that she couldn't make time to give someone some happiness.

By maggie

He's 6 and he's been wanting to meet her for 3 years? There's something strange about this story.

OK, I went to the blog for this boy. He got sick 4 years ago, and supposedly started watching her when he was 2. He asked Make-A-Wish to meet the Barefoot Contessa and they said she was doing a 10-month book tour and couldn't arrange a meeting. Apparently, Make-A-Wish told the boy, Enzo, from the beginning that participants have to pick backup wishes as they can't always provide the one asked for. So Enzo asked to swim with dolphins.

It sounds like they're making a case of scheduling conflict into something more.

By Zia

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>>>Something sounds fishy here. How many 6-year-old boys do you know whose life long dream is to meet somebody from the food network?

By superwomen

My 3 year old loves to cook and if he happens to catch someone on tv like his Disney cartoon tasty time with zefronk or when the today show has their cooking segment he loves it, but this kid probably has been stuck in a hospital with nothing other than cooking shows or soap operas to watch!

By Nan

I agree: I find it highly unlikely that a 6 year old child REALLY wanted to cook with Ina, especially when his mother claims he first made the request 3 years ago. There are certainly wishes better suited to a child that age. Why would a 3 year old child want to cook with an adult as sophisticated as Ina? I don't believe a word of it. Maybe Ina doesn't either, which is why the request was denied. There are many demands on celebrities. Fullfilling them is a matter of priorities. I can see why that wouldn't rank at the top.

It's also highly unlikely that most of the people posting here actually watch her show or buy her books, so your departure from her fan base probably won't make a dent. The claims of shreddding her books is even more rediculous.

The child is NOT dying. However, all this publicity has driven traffic to the parents' website, where one can click to make a donation to the family. This site has apparently been up and running for several years. Think that might have something to do with all this nonsense? It was the parents who publicized this, not Make A Wish Foundation. They're trying to draw people to the site to make donations.

Doesn't anyone else see the motivation behind all this? I honestly can't believe the derogatory statements about Ina on this board. Get a grip on reality, people. If you're so upset about someone else doing something for this child, send the parents a donation. That's what this is all about. THAT'S the real wish.

By Joanne

I will NEVER watch her shown again! Shame on her!!! Absolutley NO HEART!

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