Celebrity chef Mario Batali was served a second batch of sexual assault accusations Tuesday, just one day after he stepped away from hosting "The Chew" in light of similar allegations.
Four women and one man who worked with Batali in a professional capacity told the Washington Post that the restaurateur made crass come-ons, groped them and verbally harassed them.
Three of the accusations stem from a 2010 Vanity Fair party Batali hosted at his Los Angeles hotspot Osteria Mozza.
One woman who worked for the restaurant alleged that Batali arrived to the bash heavily intoxicated and told her, "I want to see you naked in my hot tub back in the hotel."
She said she tried to ignore the comment, but later in the night, as she leaned over a high-top table, Batali allegedly shoved his hand between her legs and groped her crotch.
A male Vanity Fair staffer who attended the same party said Batali "consumed multiple drinks" that night and berated him when he declined Batali's offer of a mojito.
"He very forcefully screams, 'Drink or die!'" the staffer recalled.
A third attendee who worked for Vanity Fair told the Post Batali grabbed at her arm when she denied his demand for a kiss, and ominously warned her, "You're making a big mistake. You should get in the car and we should make out."
In a statement to the Post, Batali acknowledged that he remembered the party in question and apologized for his "horribly wrong, shameful and degrading" behavior.
"I apologize profoundly to the people I have mistreated and hurt. The entire day of events surrounding the party I was the personification of idiocy, a drunken and idiotic fool, with no respect for the staff at Osteria Mozza," the statement read. "That behavior was horribly wrong, shameful and degrading and there are no excuses. I wish I could have the day back and do it right. I take full responsibility for my deplorable actions and am deeply sorry for any pain, humiliation or anguish I caused."
Meanwhile, two more women alleged to the Post that the superchef made unwanted sexual advances toward them.
One said Batali grabbed her buttocks during her tenure at his New York City restaurant Babbo, while another said she encountered Batali when he visited the West Village hotspot Spotted Pig for drinks in 2004.
The woman said Batali brusquely requested cigarettes, and she obliged. He then dropped the cigarettes, and when she bent down to pick them up, he allegedly grabbed her underwear.
The woman said she complained to Spotted Pig co-owner Ken Friedman, and he told her to "Get in f _ king line."
Friedman was hit with sexual assault allegations of his own Tuesday.
The new claims come one day after four women, three of whom worked for Batali, accused the chef of inappropriate touching in an Eater report.
As a result, Batali, 57, stepped away from his restaurant empire, which includes eateries in cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York, and backed down from his co-hosting duties at ABC's daytime talk show "The Chew."
He also runs the Batali and Bastianich Hospitality Group, which said it would bring in an outside firm to investigate any additional claims that arise.
Batali apologized Monday for the first slew of allegations, admitting that his actions "disappointed many people."
