The Real Reason You Never See Peter Meehan On Ugly Delicious Any More
Fans who have earnestly followed David Chang through his many endeavors may be familiar with the constant presence of Peter Meehan in his works. Others might remember the former food writer as Chang's frequent companion on Netflix's "Ugly Delicious." Meehan and Chang's working friendship however, goes way back.
After Chang founded the Momofuku group following the raging success of his NYC-based Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2004, he enlisted Meehan's help to write his first cookbook, "Momofuku," in 2009 (via Reality Tidbit). The cookbook turned out to be a New York Times bestseller and with it, Chang's relationship with Meehan was cemented. The duo then worked together on the quarterly-published food writing journal, Lucky Peach, which ran from 2011 to 2017.
The gossip within the culinary industry was that Lucky Peach ceased its operations after a successful six-year stint due to differences between Chang and Meehan regarding the journal's financial and creative strategies. Some would say that this is where the first cracks between the food critic and the chef began to appear. But Meehan's following appearances in just about every episode of the first season of Netflix's "Ugly Delicious" in 2018 made it seem as if all was normal between the two again.
Unfortunately, the former food critic's noticeable absence in the second season, which came out in 2020, had fans wondering what exactly had conspired between the "Ugly Delicious" host and the former Los Angeles Times food editor.
Peter Meehan and David Chang always had a rocky relationship
According to Reality Tidbit, Chang said that he had fallen out with Meehan soon after Lucky Peach's first edition came out in 2011. When probed about Meehan's on and off appearance on "Ugly Delicious," the chef said that an NDA bound him from speaking any further, although it doesn't take a lot to figure out what may have transpired.
As noted by an Eater report, a Twitter thread from Los Angeles Times food writer Tammie Teclemariam in 2020 claimed Meehan's alleged verbal abuse during his time as the newspaper's food editor is where Meehan's downfall as a food critic and an "Ugly Delicious" co-host began. Following the Twitter exposé, several writers confessed to Meehan creating a hostile work environment of fear and made allegations of verbal abuse, physical displays of a violent temper, and sexual harassment against him at both the L.A. Times and at Lucky Peach.
While the L.A. Times launched an international investigation into the allegations, Meehan stepped down from his position as the food editor with a since-deleted Twitter apology (via Eater). Since the scandal, Meehan has been absent from not just the second season of "Ugly Delicious," but seemingly from the food writing circuit entirely