Chef Jose Andres: Trump’s Lawsuit Is ‘Unsurprising And Without Merit’

FILE - This March 15, 2011, file photo, shows chef Jose Andres at his Minibar restaurant in Washington. Andres is backing out of a plan to open a flagship restaurant in Donald Trump’s new hotel under construction i... FILE - This March 15, 2011, file photo, shows chef Jose Andres at his Minibar restaurant in Washington. Andres is backing out of a plan to open a flagship restaurant in Donald Trump’s new hotel under construction in Washington. Andres issued a statement July 8, citing Trump’s statements "disparaging immigrants" in his decision to cancel plans for a new eatery at the Trump International Hotel. Andres is a Spanish immigrant and recently became a U.S. citizen. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) MORE LESS
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After Donald Trump sued Jose Andres for pulling his forthcoming restaurant from the real estate mogul’s new Washington, D.C. hotel, the famed chef slammed Trump in a Saturday statement.

“This lawsuit is both unsurprising and without merit,” Andres said in a statement about the lawsuit on Saturday, according to Politico. “Simply put, Mr. Trump’s comments made ThinkFoodGroup’s participation in this project impossible and constituted a breach which the landlord, Trump Old Post Office LLC, refused to remedy. And despite our attempts to negotiate an amicable resolution, we were ultimately forced to terminate the lease.”

Trump on Friday filed a $10 million lawsuit against Andres for a breach of contract. Andres pulled out of the deal to open a restaurant in Trump’s hotel when the presidential candidate called Mexican immigrants “rapists.”

In the lawsuit against Andres’ company, ThinkFoodGroup, Trump’s lawyer said that Andres could not nix the deal over statements made by Trump, and that the chef should not have been surprised by the Republican’s comments.

“Mr. Andres’ stated refusal to proceed with his obligations under the Lease were allegedly based on his personal offense to statements made by Mr. Trump with respects to illegal immigration during his June 16, 2015 presidential campaign announcement speech,” the lawsuit reads. “Mr. Andres’ offense is curious in light of the fact that Mr. Trump’s publicly shared views on immigration have remained consistent for many years, and Mr. Trump’s willingness to frankly share his opinions is widely known.”

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  1. Avatar for fess fess says:

    Just went by that building this weekend. It has a huge banner hanging across the front which says, “Trump in 2016.” No, no, that’s not an election statement, it’s about the coming of this renovation. It is. (Not an expert here, but given the size of the renovation it seems unlikely that it will be done in 2016.)

  2. Chef Andres is an awesome guy but he needs some help. He’s out of his element…out of the kitchen. So Chef…here’s how you do it. The remarks offended your religious beliefs. You don’t have to make a reasonable explanation…no one that useing that shit does. Just squawk religious freedom and ask Scalia to rule on it. Jesus said we should love each other…do unto other as we have done unto ourselves. So call Trump a rapist and clutch some pearls.

  3. Avatar for m3man m3man says:

    I remember a protest several years ago, based on a movie called “A Day Without a Mexican.” The idea was that all people of Mexican descent, especially undocumented ones, should stay home to demonstrate their contribution to the economy.When they did it, every construction site in Dallas, including the state road jobs that supposedly guaranteed only documented labor, shut down. I’d love to see that targeted to Trump. If every person Trump calls illegal were to boycott his properties, there would be no grass mowed on his golf courses and few beds made in his hotels.

    I’d enjoy watching him explain that away.

  4. this wasn’t the result of chef Andres’ being personally insulted, it was the result of his LLC being personally insulted. since Citizens United & Hobby Lobby, it’s established law that corporations, even LLC’s, have human attributes, hurt feelings should be reasonably considered among them. so, it’s the LLC who’s feelings were hurt, what is Chef Andre to do?

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