Anne Thornton, 'Dessert First' Star, Reportedly Fired From Food Network For Recipe Plagiarism

Pastry chef Anne Thornton, host of Food Network show "Desserts First," has been fired (and her show cancelled) for an allegedly plagiarizing several recipes, according to a report today in the New York Post.

The Post, citing unnamed sources, writes that Thornton's plagiarism had three targets: Ina Garten, Martha Stewart and 2006 cookbook "The Essence of Chocolate."

A quick comparison of Thornton's recipes and those she allegedly plagiarized shows that she didn't literally copy and paste. But the recipes are indeed very close. The only differences between the ingredients for the crust of her "Luscious Lemon Squares" and those in the 1999 Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, for example, are a sixth of a cup of flour, a half-teaspoon of almond extract and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Thornton's recipe even uses "fine salt" rather than the less dense "kosher salt" used in Ina's recipe, the difference in measurement may not reflect a true difference in volume.

Thornton's show premiered in October of 2010 and was not renewed for a third season. Food Network representatives, responding to request for comment from the Post, maintained that the decision was based solely on ratings. Thornton, for her part, said she had no knowledge of plagiarism accusations, though she admitted to being a fan of Ina and Martha.

Recipe attribution is tricky business -- the copyright laws on the topic are notoriously vague, with legal infringments often hinging on the actual phrasing of instructions rather than a list of ingredients. For that reason, even high-profile recipe plagiarists have gotten off scot-free in the past. But a TV chef is certainly supposed to be held to a higher standard of culinary originality to a normal person.

Comments

[RebeccaEParsons]

11:22 AM on 04/05/2013

Perhaps this debacle will bring to the forefront recipe and food photography plagiarism. It is rampant, especially on FaceBook where many 'cooking' pages copy and paste entire recipes and photos from food bloggers (without permission or attribution), build mammoth followers and then profit by selling e-cookbooks. When confronted, many get down right nasty, and some retaliate by causing all kinds of trouble for the blogger. Thank you for starting the discussion.

[Kevin Tuma]

06:52 PM on 02/08/2013

I'll be honest: I think she was fired because of her physical appearance.

[PlagTracker]

12:18 PM on 01/30/2013

Actually, I have to say that it was clear that she just copied the recipes and she only changed some words. From the fact, that she is publishing a book and not only making some recipes on the TV, she ought to write something on her own, not just, changing some ingredients. Of course, there are thousands of recipes and a 100% original recipe is unavoidable, however, she could create a recipe, appearing to be hers and not merely plagiarize and take advantage of her popularity to gain more money from the book. At least, for the sake of all those who follow her and of course If she had respect to herself as professional.

[dakotakp]

09:20 AM on 02/22/2012

OMG! If this is the Networks new standard fire them all! OMG! Since when does somebody own a recipe! OMG! And isnt imitation the highest form on a compliment. This from the people who help make Rachael Ray a Star! with zip for culinary talents. I hope fellow celebrity chef speak out against this treatment. Hold your head high Anne!

[nbart71]

12:16 PM on 02/20/2012

It's all basically the same no matter who is making it. What a joke... Food Network has really become a wasteland.

[ArchbishopBenevolent]

11:33 AM on 02/20/2012

This is a bogus charge. We are protecting, patenting and copyrighting a whole bunch of crap. Recipes do not warrant protections against plagiarism.

[hungryaardvark]

09:35 AM on 02/20/2012

The safest way to avoid plagiarism with lemon bar recipes is to add lemon and onions.

This is such total c@*p.

[cinderelladressmaker]

01:00 AM on 02/20/2012

Who's a naught girl? You are!

[rayinprague]

12:34 AM on 02/20/2012

If it was some master chef's signature dish that is only served at one restaurant, then the host would need to acknowledge that someone else is known for the original idea. This would be a courtesy. Legally, it is a but fuzzy, like the article says.
If she is showing people how to make a basic cake, well, her list of ingredients will be pretty close to everyone else's.
She never claimed she invented lemon squares.

[attyrose3]

09:39 PM on 02/19/2012

How ironic, getting fired for copying recipes from some of the most famous recipe plagarists of all time to be on TV. I like both Ina and Martha but not because they have original recipes. I watch them because they have a very easy style of demonstrating how to follow the recipe and cooking without stress. I have serious doubt that either of the more well-known cooks have originated each and every recipe ever presented on their shows and rarely attribute who the recipes come from. Even if they did provide attribution, it isn't like Ina Garten invited the recipe for lemon squares.

[one1byke]

12:08 PM on 02/19/2012

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

this is HOW dumb we are..... Plagiarism...! hahahahahahahaha!

[krmujn]

08:42 AM on 02/19/2012

Kind of funny when you see Food Network plagerizing Gorden Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmeres.
They don't even bother to change the dialog.

[Helen Aguilar]

04:02 AM on 02/19/2012

That's sad. She's adorable. Everyone is right- lemon bars? Lighten up Food Network-

[malgal]

02:24 AM on 02/19/2012

Are there and 'new' recipes for pastry or lemon bars?

[zempphx]

11:08 PM on 02/18/2012

Sounds to me like Ina and Martha have run out of steam (and popularity) so they are running any newbies out of town on a teaspoon of salt! I say all of us "copyright" our family recipes, retain lawyers and start sueing the hell out of so-called celibrity chefs over mash potatoes and meatloaf recipes.