Guy Fieri reality show winner sues over alleged breach of contract
Kevin Cooper won the chance to open his own brach of Fieri's Chicken Guy! franchise in his hometown of Philadelphia. The restaurant opened in February 2024 and closed around a year later.
NBC News reports that Cooper filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania last week alleging that the company, Chicken Guy, failed to deliver on its promises. Fieri was not directly named in the lawsuit, though his company and that of his business partner were, according to the publication.
In the series, which aired over six episodes between late 2021 and early 2022, Fieri told contestants that the winner would receive a franchise with a "full restaurant build out."
Cooper's lawsuit alleged that the chicken franchise failed to deliver a promised $100,000 first year salary and did not cover more than $68,000 worth of expenses. He claimed he had to take out a personal loan of $13,500 to cover costs.
Cooper is requesting full payment of the promised salary and reimbursement of the expenses.
The Independent has approached Fieri for comment.
In an interview at the time the show launched, Fieri said the series was not 'your every day, run-of-the-mill competition show.'
Fieri, the creator of a string of hit Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy's Grocery Games, explained that the latest project would not have any eliminations or 'meaningless cook-offs each week.'
Instead, he continued, Guy's Chance of a Lifetime is 'a real-deal job interview for a life-changing opportunity' to become a franchise owner of Fieri chain Chicken Guy!.
Unlike other cooking competitions, Fieri explained, Guy's Chance of a Lifetime would be a holistic assessment of the seven applicants' ability to run a restaurant successfully.
Chicken Guy! launched in 2021, with 19 locations currently across the U.S.
Fieri said in 2023 that he plans to 'die broke' and leave his children money only if they get 'two degrees.'
He told Fox News that he won't leave his sons an inheritance unless they finish their schooling. The celebrity chef explained that he wanted to teach his children the same work ethic his father had instilled in him from a young age.
'I've told them the same thing my dad told me. My dad says, 'When I die, you can expect that I'm going to die broke, and you're going to be paying for the funeral,'' Fieri told the outlet.
'And I told my boys, 'None of this that we've been… that I've been building are you going to get unless you come and take it from me.''
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