Guy Fieri faces lawsuit from Food Network reality show winner over failed restaurant
The 57-year-old chef launched Food Network's Guy's Chance of a Lifetime in early January 2022, where seven chefs were pitted against each other for a chance to run their own Chicken Guy franchise, one of Fieri's brands.
Kevin Cooper, a chef from Philadelphia, was named the winner, with his winner's package also set to include a $100,000 guaranteed salary for the first year, along with a waived franchise fee, $10,000 set aside for any legal expenses plus assistance with the build-out space and operational expenses that exceeded revenue in the first year.
Cooper's Chicken Guy franchise did open at the King of Prussia Mall outside Philadelphia back in early February 2024, just before Fieri spoke out about a 30 pound weight loss, though it closed just over a year later in late February 2025.
While no reason was given for the closing, Philly Mag reports that Cooper filed a lawsuit against Fieri's company's Chicken Guy LLC and Earl Enterprises LLC.
Daily Mail has reached out to multiple reps for Fieri for comment and have not immediately heard back at this time.
Kevin Cooper (left), a chef from Philadelphia, was named the winner, with his winner's package also set to include a $100,000 guaranteed salary for the first year, along with a waived franchise fee, $10,000 set aside for any legal expenses plus assistance with the build-out space and operational expenses that exceeded revenue in the first year
The lawsuit alleges that Fieri never provided that guaranteed $100,000 salary, despite requesting it numerous times.
The filing adds that he also never provided operational expenses that exceeded the shop's revenue, as promised.
Those expenses totaled $69,000, with $39,000 of that for Pennsylvania sales taxes alone, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is seeking the $100,000 salary and expenses that were promised after winning the reality series.
While Cooper hasn't directly spoken about the lawsuit, he did post a cryptic video Sunday on Instagram, where he speaks about how 'quiet' he's been on social media lately.
'I know y'all have noticed I've been a little quiet lately, not just on social media, but in general,' Cooper began.
'However, there are some blessings in the quiet, right? There were some moments where I didn't even want to speak my truth, because the version of the God that was handed down by my ancestors, wasn't the version that I came to know in my quiet space,' he admitted.
'So for a long time I held back, because I didn't want to become just another black man pushing the blame because I was done dirty,' he added.
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A post shared by Kevin Cooper (@chefsteek)
'I also realized that I didn't want my life wrapped in a faith that was once used to enslave my peoples,' he added.
'But by the grace of the true and living God, I didn't just heal, I forgave. I came to know the Christ before those chains. I came to know the Christ who walked across Africa before those boats came,' he said, adding Jesus was the one who 'broke chains, not the one who binded people to them.'
He concluded, 'I ain't mad, I ain't angry, and I ain't even trying to make anybody look bad, man. I'm just here to let y'all know that I am completely free and now I've got something to say, so y'all stay tuned. Peace.'
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