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| Ina Garten's offer to Enzo is denied |
"We're not going to do it," Adrian Pereda said. "I don't want my son to go through any other stress. We just want to go on with our life."
There are those who have come to Garten’s defense, citing that she is a busy celebrity and we should give her a chance to respond. But regardless of what she would have to say now, I personally feel it’s too little too late. She may get “100’s of requests a month to support charitable causes”, but it’s clear that she’ll only take on causes that deliver the type of publicity that looks good on paper.
ABC News said it best: “The ‘Barefoot Contessa’ has time to star in her Food Network show, pen cookbooks, and cook at charity luncheons for her well-to-do fans.” God forbid she actually does anything that doesn’t directly benefit her career. She had over a year to consider Enzo Pareda’s Make-A-Wish request and chose to firmly decline it. Only after it was leaked to the public and she felt the full brunt of her choice, did she step up – in a half-effort that, once again, would benefit her career more than it would benefit the six-year-old leukemia patient. Now that Enzo is a public figure, of course it would boost her ratings to have him appear on her show.
But Enzo’s wish wasn’t to appear on TV. His wish was to cook a meal with the Barefoot Contessa.
I would be more forgiving if Jennifer Aniston or Derek Jeter had rejected a request like this because, not only are they super star celebrities, their target audience isn’t the [child-loving] domesticated woman. And that said I doubt either would reject such a request. If a celebrity wants to keep their fans, they need to cater to them on a certain level. For some, this means performing in a romantic comedy over an action film or signing autographs just after you’ve lost a big game.
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| Six-year-old Enzo is excited to swim with dolphins |
The wish Enzo made wasn’t a typical wish made by the average six-year-old. It was unique and special and should have been treated that way. It’s just disappointing that such a special wish was wasted on a celebrity foodie with an absent sense of humanity.
Enzo no longer watches the Barefoot Contessa, but he does wear his swim suit to sleep each night so that he can be ready to swim with dolphins as he dreams. He is so excited about his new wish.
More on Enzo Pareda and the Barefoot Contessa:
