Joseph Cerniglia is not the first chef to commit suicide pursued by the effects of negative publicity created by the antics of Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay specializes in targeting the vulnerable and exposing them in front of a fan group possessing the mentalities of a medieval stone-throwing mob. Gordon Ramsay and his fans excel in attacking the weak and defenseless, and chefs trying to start their own businesses and make a transition from one career to another remain his prime targets.
In 2007, Joseph Cerniglia, saddled with heavy loans and trying to nurse a business back to better health, was spotted and dragged before the television-viewing public by Gordon Ramsay, ostensibly for the crime of daring to become a business owner from being a chef, and for facing difficulties. On his show, Kitchen Nightmares, Ramsay told Joseph Cerniglia, chef and new owner of the Campania restaurant, ''Your business is about to fucking swim down the Hudson.''
Three years later from that show, the body of 39-year-old Joseph Cerniglia was fished out of the Hudson River. Unable to set aright a business following the heavy negative publicity created by Gordon Ramsay and his reality TV shows, Joseph Cerniglia gave in and became the latest in the list of Gordon Ramsay's victims of negative publicity.
Why do we detest giving a man a break? Why do many of us, living among us as modern citizens, take pleasure when we see people fail in their struggles? Why do we actively participate in demolishing the dreams of others? If Joseph Cerniglia was not a chef, but a man skilled in public interaction, he would have asked these questions on the show itself.
But, people like Gordon Ramsay are aware that the people they are choosing to victimize are ordinary workers who freeze up in front of television and struggle to find words. That's what made Joseph Cerniglia a prime target for Ramsay. When Ramsay slips and targets the wrong people, like targeting an Australian journalist some time ago, even the Prime Minister of Australia reacted to Ramsay's attacks on the journalist and went on record saying ''All I could describe his remarks as reflecting a new form of low life.''
After buying a losing business and saddled with debts of $80, 000, and even before being able to put things into shape, Joseph Cerniglia was trapped by Gordon Ramsay and Fox TV. The end was predictable, and was predicted by Ramsay. Joseph Cerniglia, chef, dreamer and struggler, ended floating in the Hudson River.
