TV Chef Sues After 'Guy's Chance' Dream Turns Nightmare

By Jessie Stone • Jul 15, 2025

Guy Fieri in 2022. Image courtesy of Popdust under CC BY 3.0.

It was billed as the opportunity of a lifetime — a dream job, a new business, a six-figure salary, and the full support of one of Food Network's biggest stars. But now, that televised dream has turned into a real-world lawsuit. Chef Kevin Cooper, winner of Guy Fieri's short-lived reality competition "Guy's Chance of a Lifetime," has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Fieri's business entities failed to deliver on the grand prize he earned. The legal drama offers a sobering look at what happens when the cameras stop rolling and the contracts come into play.

A Franchise, a Salary, and a Promise

Back in early 2022, Cooper, a Philadelphia-based chef, beat out competitors to win the six-episode Food Network series.

The top prize was ownership of a Chicken Guy! franchise location, a $100,000 first-year salary, and coverage of key start-up costs, including a legal stipend, waived franchise fees, and help with operating expenses if the franchise lost money in its first year.

The deal was supposed to launch Cooper into culinary stardom. Instead, it's landed him in federal court.

According to the lawsuit filed June 27 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Cooper alleges that Fieri's Chicken Guy LLC, and to a lesser extent Robert Earl's Earl Enterprises, failed to deliver the promised support.

While Fieri himself is not named as a defendant, both his and Earl's companies are at the center of the case.

'Done Dirty': A Quiet Fallout Turns Public

Cooper's Chicken Guy! franchise opened in February 2024, more than two years after his win, and closed just one year later, in February 2025.

Cooper is seeking judgment for the unpaid $100,000 salary, reimbursement of $69,000 in expenses, and $13,500 for a personal loan he took out to cover business needs.

Cooper said in a June 29 Instagram video, sharing that the experience left him hesitant to speak out. "There were some moments where I didn't even want to speak my truth," he said, according to Men's Journal. "For a long time I held back because I didn't want to become just another Black man pushing the blame, just because I was done dirty."