Jock Zonfrillo has come out saying he “stands by” the contents of his controversial memoir, even after that wild Good Weekend piece went viral for making several explosive claims calling him out on his supposed bullshit.
Earlier this month, an article written by Tim Elliott for the Good Weekend alleged that certain parts of Zonfrillo’s recently published memoir Last Shot have been contradicted by other chefs and people he knows.
The article went in with no reservations on aspects of Zonfrillo’s life that the chef claims to be true, such as his crippling drug addiction and his alleged ‘father-son’ relationship with acclaimed chef Marco Pierre White.
Zonfrillo said in a statement this week:
“This is the story of my life. I’ve lived every minute of it, the highs and lows, and I stand by it.
“There’s no question that some of my book makes me look pretty unsavoury at the best of times.
“I carry the shame from those years, not pride, and it was a big obstacle for me to overcome when writing this book.”
Dan Ruffino, managing director of the memoir’s publisher Simon & Schuster, also weighed in. He told the Sydney Morning Herald that if he felt as if sales of the memoir were affected by the publication of the article, ‘legal action’ may ensue.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Ruffino also made it clear that the processes behind the making of Last Shot were rather rigorous, and that every point made in the memoir could very easily be proven.
“We work intimately with the writer and fact check everything. We see what’s on the public record, we pick up any inconsistencies and run anything legally contentious via lawyers,” he said.
“Obviously our industry is red-hot on this stuff post-Helen Darville and James Frey. It’s something we take very seriously.”
If you’d like to peruse through the spicy cliff notes of the viral SMH article on Zonfrillo, we’ve got you covered right HERE.
You can also check out the full article here.
