A British Michelin-starred celebrity chef was attacked after allegedly defending his teenage daughter from thugs in a bar in the Philippines.
Jason Atherton, 51, was eating at the F Cafe and Bar in Cebu province with his family when his 17-yr-old daughter complained that a group of guys harassed her outside the restroom.
The award-successful chef, from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, reportedly confronted them and asked them to apologise.
But the confrontation promptly turned violent and a mass brawl ensued, when shocking footage confirmed fists traveling and bargoers currently being stomped on the ground.
Jason is pictured with regional governor Gwendolyn Garcia who condemned the attackers
Atherton is pictured amid a brawl in the F Cafe and Bar in Philippine’s Cebu province
In grainy cell phone footage, Atherton can be viewed donning a white shirt, very first arguing with folks outdoors the bar and then caught up in a fistfight.
He was pictured at 1 of his places to eat in the Philippines the upcoming working day sporting two black eyes and bruising about his nose.
In a movie taken by an onlooker, Atherton can be heard stating: ‘I want an apology…. If you could have sexual intercourse with her in the rest room. She’s 17, she’s 17-several years-old.’
Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia slammed the bar, saying: ‘they all ganged up on Jason, including F Bar’s people’.
The politician added: ‘Worse, F Bar’s bouncers held him down so Jason could not battle again.
‘The lady supervisor joined in the melee, even furnishing a bottle to conquer him additional, the full time condemning him and all foreigners as troublemakers.’
Atherton is seen arguing with bargoers in this still from a online video recorded by onlookers
Protection guards ended up deployed at the bar and broke up the battle by keeping the two functions absent from each other
Jason is married to Filipina Irha Atherton
Atherton, whose spouse is from the Philippines, achieved with Governor Gwendolyn who snapped a selfie demonstrating his injuries which included a pair of black eyes.
The governor additional that the ‘internationally acclaimed English chef’ did not have earned the treatment method.
She claimed: ‘These men ended up harassing Jason’s daughter, although she was waiting in line for the restroom. Jason requested them to apologise, as any father who loves his daughter would.
‘Tonight, I told Jason, ”I’m so sorry for what happened to you, Jason. I hope this will not alter your fondness for Cebu.
‘He answered, ”Oh no! It could have transpired anywhere in the world. In London or any other place”.
‘This gracious, gifted man certainly did not are entitled to the shameful remedy he been given.’
Atherton sharpened his culinary competencies under the tutelage of Gordon Ramsay from 2001-2010, ahead of putting out on his own.
He released his own enterprise identified as ‘The Social Company’ and has given that cultivated a restaurant empire with institutions in London, New York, Dubai, Shanghai and The Philippines, with several of the places to eat earning Michelin stars.
Atherton is pictured at get the job done with one particular of his restaurant’s workforce times immediately after his bar place brawl in the Philippines
Clips of the brawl were circulated on social media
Following condemnation from Governor Garcia, the bar launched a assertion claiming their CCTV footage ‘showed it was Chef Atherton who initiated the attack versus the other group’.
The assertion said: ‘Security personnel seen a commotion inside coming from specified customers that included Mr Atherton. A melee ensued and the organic reaction of stability was to go among the parties to make certain that nobody obtained harm and to pacify them.
‘The manager, who just experienced an eye procedure, also went to be certain that safety was on best of the predicament. CCTV footage showed that it was Mr Atherton who initiated the assault from the other team.
‘Everything happened so speedy but the good news is the individuals were inevitably pacified. We ended up then informed that they went to the law enforcement and the district officials and settled almost everything amongst by themselves. We have been educated that the issue was closed.
‘While we try out to be certain that everyone feels great in our establishments, we have no manage in excess of the steps of other folks. We deeply regret what took place to Mr Atherton and the other parties associated in the fracas.’
Cebu Metropolis Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia stated in a speech on December 28: ‘This is disturbing, and it problems not only the province of Cebu but most primarily, the City of Cebu due to the fact it is really in our jurisdiction.
‘This illustration feels that one thing has to be finished about it not only as a public formal but also as a father who also has a daughter.’
No formal grievances have reportedly been submitted to law enforcement.
