Kitchen Nightmare, Part Two: Gordon Ramsay Loses Lawsuit, Owes $1M In Pub Rent

Another day, another legal battle (lost) by Gordon Ramsay.

The high courts of England ruled against Ramsay in the feud between him and his estranged father-in-law, Christopher Hutcheson. Ramsay took his father-in-law to to court after he alleged that Hutcheson used an autopen to forge his signature on a lease binding him into a 25-year contract personally liable for the $1 million annual rent for the pub York & Albany. You read that right: $1 million.

The courts ruled that Hutcheson “was acting within the wide general authority conferred on him by Mr. Ramsay” when the documents were signed, the Associated Press reports. Because Ramsay had used the autopen many a time before, it was “entirely implausible” that the chef didn’t realize the autopen was being used to sign the lease.

So, Ramsay will be forking over a pretty penny to keep the York & Albany open. The owner of the pub, the York & Albany, “said Ramsay’s allegations were an ‘absurd’ attempt to wriggle out of the commitment, reports The Week.

[Associated Press, The Week]

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