Boston judge finds celebrity chef Mario Batali not guilty in sexual misconduct trial

• A Boston judge found celebrity chef Mario Batali not guilty of sexual misconduct on Tuesday.
• A Massachusetts woman had accused Batali of groping her at a Boston bar in 2017.

BOSTON — Celebrity chef Mario Batali was found not guilty of indecent assault and battery of a Massachusetts woman on Tuesday after a short, two-day sexual misconduct trial at the Boston Municipal Court.

Judge James Stanton delivered the verdict after attorneys for both the prosecution and defense delivered their closing arguments. Batali on Monday waived his right to have a jury decide the outcome of his sexual misconduct trial, and he did not testify in his own defense.

Natali Tene, 32, accused Batali, 61, of forcibly kissing her and groping her at a Boston bar in 2017 while the two were taking photos together.

Batali pleaded not guilty in 2019 to a charge of indecent assault and battery in connection to the case. He faced two-and-a-half years in jail and becoming a registered sex offender if convicted.

While delivering his verdict, Stanton said he had issues with Tene's credibility and said Batali paid a "high cost" in terms of his diminished reputation.

After the verdict, Tene immediately left the courtroom. Batali seemingly looked relieved.

Tene testified in court on Monday that Batali repeatedly kissed, touched, and groped her without her consent at the now-closed Towne Stove and Spirits near Boston's Eataly on March 31, 2017.

Tene said she was hanging with a friend at the bar when she recognized Batali, and said she snapped a picture of the chef on her cellphone. He noticed, and called her over.

She recalled offering to delete the picture, but said Batali was unbothered and offered to take additional photos together. They took about 10 photos, and Tene said the drunk chef repeatedly kissed and groped her simultaneously — touching her "sensitive feminine areas."

"He was grabbing me in a way I've never been touched before," Tene testified, adding that she was "really shocked, surprised, alarmed," by the incident and left the bar that night feeling "mortified" and "disgusted."

During Tene's cross-examination on Monday, defense attorney Anthony Fuller accused Tene of making up details of her 2017 encounter with Batali and tried to poke holes in her credibility.

He claimed Tene didn't take her past jury duty job seriously and accused her of lying for money — claims she denied.

On Tuesday, the prosecution called Rachel Buckley — a friend of Tene's and the woman with whom she confided in after the alleged incident — to the stand as a witness.

Buckley testified that Tene told her about the alleged incident when they met up a few days later, saying she was groped by the high-profile chef.

During the closing arguments on Tuesday, Fuller again argued that Tene was not a credible source of information — accusing Tene of previously "lying" and claiming the selfies Tene and Batali took together aren't indicative of any alleged assault.

"In her world, the truth is a flexible concept," he said, claiming Tene "lies for fun, she lies for money — in this case it appears she lied for both."

Nina Bonelli, assistant district attorney for Suffolk County, defended Tene's claims in her closing argument and said Tene wasn't just seeking monetary compensation in a separate civil suit.

"If this was really a scam for money… why didn't Ms. Tene sue right away?" Bonelli said to the judge. "Because this has never been about money — this is about what happened to her."

Batali's career has been rocked by several sexual misconduct allegations in recent years. Last year, Batali and a former partner agreed to pay $600,000 to survivors of sexual assault and discrimination as part of a settlement following a New York attorney general's office investigation.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.