Did celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay throw Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz out of his "Hell's Kitchen" restaurant in New York City, saying, "Don't come back here, you woke creep"? No, that's not true: This story initially appeared in an article on a website with a satire disclaimer, known for publishing fabricated content. No publicly available or credible evidence supports this claim.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on September 4, 2024. The caption said:
Gordon Ramsay Throws Tim Walz Out of Hell's Kitchen: 'Don't Come Back Here You Woke Creep' Satire
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Sept. 11 15:57:39 2024 UTC)
In the comment section, the author of this post linked to an Esspots.com article (archived here) titled, "Gordon Ramsay Throws Tim Walz Out of Hell's Kitchen: 'Don't Come Back Here You Woke Creep.'"
The description on the About Us page (archived here) of the Esspots website, in part, reads:
Welcome to the US page of Esspots (A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody News), your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America.
SpaceXMania.com is also a satire website.
The description (archived here) underneath the disclaimer tab on the Esspots website, in part, reads:
Welcome to Esspots.com, a website that specializes in satire, parody, and humor. Before you proceed to read our content, we would like to emphasize that nothing on this website is real. All of the articles, stories, and commentary found on Esspots.com are entirely fictitious and created for the purpose of entertainment only.
Lead Stories searched using keywords on Google News, which is visible here (archived here) and found no credible documents or reporting to confirm this claim.
Lead Stories reached out to representatives of Gordon Ramsay for a statement verifying this claim. If any responses are received, this fact check will be updated.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks that mention Gordon Ramsay and Tim Walz can be found here and here.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks mentioning the Esspots website and Space X Mania can be read here and here.
