In 2013, he told Russia’s TBN TV channel, a partner of CBN Ukraine at the time, that “same-sex marriage may become the first step towards vice. Weber’s opposition towards LGBT rights is well-documented.
▪️CBN Ukraine introduced American conversion therapy practitioners to Ukraine through its CBN Family Academy project initiated by Weber. ▪️In 2015 CBN and American Pastors Network, a self-described “network of biblical and faith based pastors and church liaisons ” inserted themselves into the discussion about the possible introduction of marriage equality anti-discriminatory protections for LGBT people into Ukraine’s Constitution. ▪️Public records in Ukraine link Steve Weber to American veteran pastor turned lobbyist Dale Armstrong who in 2018 was involved in an effort to oust US Ambassador Yovanovitch. ▪️An investigation by “Bellingcat Anti-Equality Monitoring” suggests that Steve Weber, longtime head of the Ukrainian branch of the Christian Broadcasting Network, a US media juggernaut, initiated the creation of the “Alliance Ukraine for Family”, a “pro-family” umbrella organisation whose members run nationwide anti-LGBT campaigns and oppose anti-discriminatory changes to laws.
The trial is taking place in the Central Division of Boston Municipal Court. Jury selection in his trial begins Monday and is expected to last one day. Last July, Batali, his business partner, and their New York City restaurant company agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve a four-year investigation by the New York attorney general’s office into allegations that Batali, restaurant managers, and other workers sexually harassed employees. After four women accused him of inappropriate touching in 2017, Batali stepped down from day-to-day operations at his restaurant empire and left the since-discontinued ABC cooking show “The Chew.” But the ponytail- and orange Croc-wearing personality’s high-flying career crumbled amid sexual misconduct allegations in recent years.
Batali is accused of forcibly kissing and groping a woman after taking a selfie with her.īatali faces a maximum sentence of 2.5 years in the Suffolk County House of Correction.īatali’s lawyer has said the charge is “without merit.”īatali was once a Food Network fixture on shows like “Molto Mario” and “Iron Chef. The celebrity chef is accused of indecent assault and battery connected to a 2017 incident at a Boston restaurant.
Jury selection gets underway Monday in the trial of Mario Batali on a sexual misconduct charge.