Two entertainment attorneys are setting the record straight after a well-known soul food chef in California accused them of stealing her business.
The attorneys, Cierra Carter and Channing Bias Smith, posted a video on Instagram in response to a video from the founder of the restaurant with which they had recently entered into an agreement.
In the video, the women talked about falling in love with a struggling restaurant in Los Angeles and wanting to help.
Marilyn Ann Cole, also known as “Chef Marilyn,” has been referred to as the “Queen of Down Home Southern Goodies” in Los Angeles. For over 30 years, she has operated her business, “Chef Marilyn’s on Crenshaw.”
The first video, shared Monday by Original Hood News, showed Marilyn outside her restaurant, holding a piece of paper with photos of Carter and Smith.
“They are taking all the money, they are not paying me, they’re not even feeding me,” she told the camera. “They promised they would not abuse me, disrespect me, and they did just that.”
The chef claimed she was locked out of the building, had not been paid for six weeks, and couldn’t even get a plate of her own food.
“I can’t even get a meal out of here, and I built it,” she said in the video. “Their companies need to know what these two young Black women have done to a Black icon.”
A spokesperson for the attorneys clarified to the Atlanta Black Star that this was a personal business venture for them and that their companies are not involved.
The next day, Carter and Smith laid out why they got involved.
“I became aware that the restaurant was in significant financial trouble,” Smith said. “And my best friend Cierra asked that I partner with her to help keep this soul food legacy going.”
The women claim that if they didn’t act fast, Chef Marilyn would lose her business.
“Up until that point, the employees weren’t even being paid. There were so many unpaid bills,” Smith said. “We had to set up a new business structure with Chef Marilyn following the bankruptcy. It was the only way to keep the restaurant open, pay the bills, pay the employees, and pass the payroll. We were even paying her outstanding debts that she had to keep the business around.”
Smith says they also paid for Marilyn’s bankruptcy attorney.
When laying out the business structure, the women said Chef Marilyn wasn’t interested in being part of it and only wanted to be a chef. From there, the women entered into an agreement under which she would receive proceeds from the restaurant and catering. She would also be compensated for her work in the kitchen, the use of her name, likeness, and recipes.
“We have tried over and over to get her to meet with us for over the last two weeks,” the lawyers said. “We’ve paid Marilyn everything that we owe her so far under our deal, and instead she made this video yesterday saying terrible things about us and, you know, we’re heartbroken. All of these statements are not true.”
The women said they want to meet with Chef Marilyn to resolve the dispute.
Carter’s law firm, LaPolt Law, sent Atlanta Black Star a statement reiderating it has no involvement in the business dispute, despite Chef Marilyn’s accusations.
“We have all watched as a dispute has unfolded, amplified by online video, between the individuals involved,” Entertainment Attorney Dina LaPolt said. “Some of these videos are false and defamatory toward me and my firm, and the responses posted online are increasingly ugly.”
The Atlanta Black Star has tried multiple times to reach out to Chef Marilyn but has not heard back.
