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'Top Chef' contestant beaten by anti-gay attackers

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

(New York - WABC, September 12, 2007) (WABC) -- A former contestant on the TV cooking show "Top Chef" claims she was a beaten up by a gang of people yelling anti-gay slurs.

Josie Smith-Malave, who is openly gay, says she was attacked outside a bar in Sea Cliff, Long Island.

Long Island reporter Emily Smith has the story.

The victims say they were here at this bar for a birthday party Labor Day weekend when they say they were attacked for their sexual preference. They now have an attorney to assure this is prosecuted as a hate crime, which is a felony in New York state.

Josie Smith-Malave might look familiar to you if you watch reality TV. She was a contestant on season two of the smash hit cooking show. Today she's under the spotlight again -- but this time for something else.

"Having punches thrown at my body and kicked in the head watching my sister get thrown down to the floor and pummeled on by six or seven people," Josie said.

And then their friend Emily Durwood was attacked too -- attacked, they say, on her way out the bar, thrown to the curb a by three girls and nine boys outside of Partners, a nightclub in a small Nassau County town.

"I've never experienced something like that before where people are so angry I didn't even know where it was coming from," Josie said.

Laura Yaz lives diagonal from the bar and says she saw the entire thing from home.

"When they said 'I hope you die of AIDS' and I knew it was more than just a fight," Laura said.

The victims' attorney says it all started when a bouncer at Partners asked her clients to leave the bar because they were suspected of being with underage drinkers. Emily Durwood says she wasn't with anyone underage.

"A woman who I had met there in Sea Cliff mentioned she heard the bouncer say it was getting too gay," Emily said.

Emily says even though she's gay, she did nothing to showcase that in the bar.

Josie says shes never been shy about her sexual preference. Today, she can't help but wonder if it was her open and honest comments during "Top Chef" that made her a target and ultimately her friends a target.

The Nassau County Police Department did not want to go on camera but says they are investigating this as a hate crime.

The victims say bystanders were actually flashing pictures of them being beaten. Anyone with information should call the police right away.

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