Leave Rachael Ray Alone

For the last two decades of her life, and maybe even before, my mom was a huge fan of cooking shows. She'd park herself in front of the Food Network for hours, making plans to recreate her favorite televised recipes, though she rarely actually did it. While I didn't share her passion — I do not enjoy cooking for the most part — I did often visit with her while she watched, so I got my own education in Food Network personalities. 

Back in the 2000s, Rachael Ray was all the rage. She was cute and bubbly and her shows felt like hanging out in the kitchen watching a friend cook. She even had a fun backstory — the candy counter girl at Macy's made it big. She cooked meals that were quick and easy to make, meals that busy parents and other people across the United States could recreate without spending hours in the kitchen or breaking the bank. Our own Stephen Kruiser just said to me, "It's difficult to describe how much '30 Minute Meals' meant to a single divorced dad who was always looking for quick but good food to cook on school nights."

I was in college and worked in a bookstore at the time, and her cookbooks came out fast and furious. She was a huge brand. She ended up with her own talk show and pet food (and a million other things, I'm sure). My mom adored her, my customers adored her, and, based on our behind-the-scenes chat this afternoon, a few of my colleagues here adored her, as well. I'll admit I even became a fan. Eventually, though, I lost interest, especially when she got kind of political and not in a good way. (No hard feelings. Believe what you want to believe and support what you want to support, but I just went through a phase where that was tedious for me.)  

I didn't do a deep dive, but it looks like she ended her talk show in 2023, and I couldn't really tell you what she's been doing in the meantime, though it looks like she has a fairly active Instagram account and still sells plenty of kitchen products on her website. As a matter of fact, it was an Instagram post that put her back into the headlines this week. 

Ray posted a video of herself on Mother's Day with the caption, "My mom taught me a lot more than how to cook. She showed me how to make something outta nothing—and how to do it with love." 

If those headlines from the last 24 hours were to be believed, the video was terrifying. Fans were "stunned" and "concerned about her health." She was "slurring her words" and practically unrecognizable. When I saw that, I knew I had to go straight to Instagram. What's happened to poor Rachael? Has she taken a Britney Spears-like turn toward crazytown?  

Admittedly, the Rachael Ray in the video is not the Rachael Ray of the 2000s. Google tells me she's almost 57. She's put on some weight. She isn't wearing makeup or sitting under studio lighting as far as I know, and she's dressed a bit frumpily, though admittedly she's wearing a nicer outfit than I am at the moment (y'all should see what I roll up to my laptop in most days). But at no point was I concerned for her health. She wasn't "slurring her words" as far as I could tell. She did seem to get a bit emotional. After all, it was an emotional video in which she talked about being poor when she was younger and her mother's influence on her life. 

My guess is that the "concerned fans" and people who wrote these headlines are all young with little life experience, or they just have bad manners. (If you don't have anything nice to say...) Life happens. You get old. You might get fat. You might become comfortable with yourself and no longer feel the need to cake on makeup to impress everyone. (Ray is several years older than I am, but I see that "comfortable with yourself" light at the end of the tunnel anyway.) Back in December, Ray was on a podcast and admitted that she's "afraid" to go online and see what people say about her. To me, that is heartbreaking but understandable. People are cruel.  

This woman built an empire. I'm sure she's worth millions. From the outside looking in, she seems happily married. She has rescue dogs she adores. She's an icon in the food world. And if she does have some sort of health issue, that's her business, but I just don't see it in that video (though I don't have a fancy internet medical degree like many people do, apparently). The only thing I see is a woman who has led an impressive life and continues to share with her fans. And I say, keep it up!  The rest of you can just leave Rachael Ray alone. 

 You can watch the video for yourself here: 

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