Branding Company Demands $10 Million for Alleged Role in Ayesha Curry’s Food Empire

A celebrity branding company is suing San Francisco restaurateur/lifestyle icon Ayesha Curry for breach of contract, saying that it’s thanks only to their efforts that the International Smoke collaborator netted TV deals, cookbook contracts, and more.

The Associated Press reports that Ayesha Curry, an at least part-time San Francisco resident, print magazine magnate, and face (alongside local restaurateur Michael Mina) of barbecue mini-chain International Smoke, is facing a $10 million lawsuit from a company named Flutie Entertainment — which, per its website, “creates limitless opportunities for storytellers, trendsetters, icons, and thought leaders who shape popular culture.”

According to the suit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Curry “had a modest following for her social media and food blog,” but was mainly known as the wife of Golden State Warrior Steph Curry when she began working with Flutie five years ago. and it was due to the company’s “significant and unprecedented results” that she landed gigs like Food Network production Ayesha’s Home Kitchen and a hosting role on ABC’s Great American Baking Show (a show that was eventually pulled from the network’s roster following sexual misconduct allegations against pastry chef/show judge Johnny Iuzzini), as well as several other roles in food-related businesses.

In the suit, Flutie says that Curry ended her relationship with the company in May of 2019, and since then, she’s “essentially gutted and devalued Flutie Entertainment’s interests” in projects in which Flutie has a stake, including Homemade, a planned meal kit and kitchen product business. Curry hasn’t commented on the allegations, but has been vocal about another issue: the needs of students at the Oakland Unified School District and residents of Alameda County. With her husband, she’s recently announced an initiative to provide one million meals to community members during the Bay Area’s shelter in place, and has encouraged nationwide donations to area food banks.

And in other news...

• San Francisco’s school district has added some more meal pickup sites for students in need. [KRON 4]
• It’s been six years since iconic queer bar Esta Noche shuttered, so here’s a look back at its 35 year history as a LGBTQ+ space. [Bay Area Reporter]
• Coronavirus is exposing the gaps in a complex food distribution system that’s seeing farmers dump excess product while food banks report shortages. [Eater National]
• Oakland’s Community Foods Market is offering recipients of EBT benefits online ordering and curbside pickup, a relative rarity for folks using CalFresh (aka food stamps) and other support programs. [SF Chronicle]
• 54-year-old East Bay institution Top Dog says that its politics prevent it from taking government benefits, as “there’s always something of a catch.” [SF Gate]
• Santa Cruz protein delivery company Real Good Fish has expanded its delivery area to customers across seven Western states. [San Jose Mercury News]
• Tertulia Coffee. a less than four-year-old Oakland coffee shop known for its displays of work from “emerging artists of color,” has closed for good. [Hoodline]
• With the business crowd gone from downtown San Francisco, local food trucks are trying to figure out a way forward. [SF Gate]
• It seems almost pointless to bring up articles about dining room design, but this item on Mamahuhu’s interiors is a nice reminder that eating at a niftily-designed place can be half the fun. [The Spaces]
• For the first time since 1946, there will be no elephant ears or funnel cakes at the Marin County Fairgrounds this summer, as the event has been canceled. That’s a bummer, but the image they used to announce the cancellation is pretty fantastic. [Marin County Fair/Instagram]