In May 2014, filming for Season 12 of the hit Bravo reality
series Top Chef began in Boston, Massachusetts.
Members of Teamsters Local 25 demanded union staffing on the
show. The production, however, did not need any additional
crew members and rejected the Teamster's demands. Several
members of Local 25 threatened to picket the production if they
were not hired, and they followed through on their word. As a
result, five of those Teamsters have been charged with felony
counts of conspiracy to extort and attempted extortion.
The September 29, 2015 indictment of John Fidler, Daniel
Redmond, Robert Cafarelli, Richard Jeffrey, and Mark Harrington
claimed that the Teamsters attempted to forcibly enter a restaurant
where the crew was filming in June 2014. The Teamsters also
allegedly threatened physical violence against the Top Chef crew,
yelled profanities, and shouted racial and homophobic slurs.
Additionally, nine crew members had their tires slashed.
