The celebrity chef Todd English – along with his ex-girlfriend, Wenjie Song – has been accused of sexual assault and battery in a nuisance, the bombshell lawsuit that alleges the victim was “horribly abused” during the attack that left him with severe burns and nerve damage. .
Kelly Forman, a woman with a traumatic brain injury caused by an unrelated equestrian accident, filed an amended lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court on September 24, alleging she was burned and abused by English and Song in 2015. The lawsuit was first filed. November 22, 2023.
English and Songs have not been served.
“British fame creates monsters who believe they can abuse and assault women without consequence,” the statement said.
The Englishman, who has an estimated net worth of $18.5 million, is famous for his upscale Olives restaurant and runs the luxury food hall at the Plaza Hotel. But he faced many scandals and accusations.
He has four cookbooks and he has appeared on several PBS food shows, including “Food Trip With Todd English.”
Just last week, the four-time James Beard Award winner launched the Whitefish Food and Wine Festival in Montana.
Toque has also been sued several times, moved to rehab, and has regularly appeared on Page Six, including in 2014 after getting a drink thrown in his face while making out with two half-clothed women while “annihilated” in a popular nightclub.
There is also an infamous picture of a man, taken just days later, in a hot tub with three topless women, including one who looks like his then-girlfriend, Song. (Song denied it was her, saying: “My eyes are not like that, and I have bigger breasts.”)
Forman stated in the lawsuit that she invited the Englishman to a dinner party on the balcony in April 2015 where he “forced to kiss (her) several times in the kitchen,” and that he “blatantly told her to stop and warned her that her partner ., Wenjie Song, was also at the dinner party,” the lawsuit said. “England doesn’t care.”
The suit alleges that Song “insisted” on going out for drinks after the party, and the couple took Forman to a strip club where he bought her a lap dance against her will.
It also stated “the flashing lights and loud music from the strip club traumatized Ms. Forman’s brain and caused migraines.”
He claimed he was “totally debilitated by pain,” and returned to the balcony with English and Song to sleep.
“While Ms. Forman was trying to sleep, English and Song piled into the bed with her. Song then climbed on top of English and began kissing her and touching her sexually, clearly attempting to engage in group sex with Ms. Forman,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Forman said he was too tired to interact with her and went to sleep.
After waking up that morning, she said she felt “disoriented and uncomfortable,” and returned home because she had been “horribly abused.”
“There are six gaping holes in his left arm; the skin around the holes in his arm is black and dead,” the suit states, which includes a picture of a cigarette-like arm.
“Ms. Forman could see the gruesome wound but no sensation in his left arm. Mrs. Forman also realized that he had suffered painful vomiting tears that were not there before he woke up in the attic,” the lawsuit alleges.
The newspaper claimed he confronted the Englishman who did not answer his questions, but allegedly told Song he “doesn’t smoke.”
He has suffered “permanent nerve damage,” according to the suit.
Forman went to a dermatologist who diagnosed her with “third-degree burns.” A neurologist told him that the only way he would not wake up when burned that badly if he “has been intensely drugged to the point of losing consciousness,” claims the suit.
A rep for England denied the claims.
“All the allegations in this complaint against our client chef Todd English are completely absurd and laughable,” says the statement. “This is reckless money that is going nowhere, anyone who cares to read the complaint can clearly see that.”
Page Six could not reach Song.
Forman first met England in 2006 and they had previously consensually kissed. They had cut off contact in 2008, but reconnected with English in 2015, according to court papers.
Forman’s 2011 equestrian accident left him with a “traumatic brain injury with significant functional limitations in cognition, emotion and associated visual impairment,” the filing said. “As a result, Ms. Forman has lifelong disabilities in conceptual thinking, working memory, and learning and processing speed.”
After passing the Adult Survivor Act, which is temporarily suspended by the statute of limitations, Forman went to the police with pictures and his underwear from the night, but nothing came of it, filing allegations.
They are seeking monetary damages.
Wigdor Partner, Meredith A. Firetog, who represents Forman told us, “We are determined to hold people accountable.”
England has been in the headlines before outside the kitchen. In 2017, England and members of the Plaza Hotel Food Hall were accused of sexual harassment.
In 2015, her attorney sued her to collect more than $270,000 in bills.
In 2014, he was arrested for drunk driving in the Hamptons and later entered an outpatient rehabilitation program.
He also lost control of the Union Square Olives restaurant after allegedly exhibiting “erratic behavior,” and “going off the rails,” Page Six reported at the time.
