The Tragedy Of Rachael Ray Is So Sad

A horrible case of croup While she's known as being a bubbly  on-camera personality and cook,   Rachael Ray has been called a  homewrecker, a crack peddler,   and so much more. Life behind the lights and  cameras has often been tragic for the TV chef. "Welcome and sit and relax. I love  firsts and this is the first show!" Rachael Ray is known for many things — high levels  of energy, widespread knowledge of cooking despite   never having attended culinary school, and  tons of drive — but one of her most defining   characteristics is her gravelly voice. Whether you  watched her long-running syndicated show or not,   chances are that if you are familiar with Ray,  you are also familiar with her signature rasp. While Ray has sounded this way for  as long as she has been famous,   cigarettes or any other voice-altering  substance are not to blame. In fact,   Ray has struggled with her voice for her  entire life, and it was especially bad   pre-puberty. Ray's voice box has continuously  been a problem for her, as she caught croup,   an infection that affects the airway, when she  was growing up. Ray told People magazine in 2006, "I had a lot of croup as a kid so I don't have  the strongest vocal cords to begin with. I went   to a voice doctor [who] taught me exercises for my  throat and to cut back a little on the caffeine." In 2008, Ray also had to go in for surgery  to remove a cyst on one of her vocal cords,   but she was back to her bubbly, gravelly-voiced  self after a week of strict vocal rest. Mugged twice Ray moved to New York City in 1995, only one  year after new crime-fighting tactics were   introduced. Within two years, she became  the victim of a violent mugging in the   lobby of her own Queens apartment  building. She recounted to People, "This kid comes in behind me — next thing I  know he shoves my face up against the door,   jams a gun into my back and says, 'Give me  your bag.' I flipped the top off the mace my   dad had given me when I moved to New York  City, spun around and started screaming." The robber was deterred, only to return the  following week to beat Ray up in an alley.   These incidents prompted her to flee  the city for upstate New York, saying, "Dude, I got mugged twice within one  week! Wouldn't you want to leave?" Peddling crack to kids "She's like the most peaceful  person you could meet." The vast majority of the hate Rachael Ray has  received has come from the tabloid media or   the public. Rarely has she faced  criticism from one of her peers,   so it was a huge shocker when she was called out  by another big name in culinary broadcasting back   in 2009. It all began when Ray signed on  to appear in advertisements for Dunkin',   which seemed like a great idea since Ray  built her brand on fast and easy meals. The partnership may have fit Ray's brand,  but even she admitted to ABC News that it   turned into a PR fiasco after Anthony  Bourdain called her "evil" and said she   was basically "peddling crack to kids." The  late chef was by no means the only one to   bash Ray's choice — some other critics were  outraged because they thought her scarf was a   symbol for Islamic extremism — but Ray appeared  undaunted by the backlash. She told ABC News, "They came to me and they said, 'We want  to make healthier food for America. You   drink a lot of coffee. You  grew up on Dunkin' Donuts.'" She also noted that Dunkin' provided  support for her charity, Yum-o, adding, "They've been very supportive of me. I  don't regret a thing. Not for a minute." Becky with the good hair Rachael Ray has had some legitimate  criticism thrown her way, but she has   also had a few instances of unnecessary  hate. There was one particular rumor that   was so ludicrous that it was almost humorous  — except the hate tossed Ray's way was real,   and no one could blame her  for being upset about it. We are, of course, talking about  how Ray was reeled into the Jay-Z   and Beyoncé cheating scandal due to  people on the Internet's collective   stupidity. Her name is what got her  into trouble since it is strikingly   similar to that of another Rachael, who  was accused of being Jay-Z's mistress. The other Rachael was designer Rachel Roy. Much  of people's belief that Roy was involved with   Jay-Z stems from an Instagram post she made  about "good hair," which was interpreted as   a reference to Beyoncé's famous "Becky with the  good hair" lyric. The Bey-hive went in on Roy,   but some of Bey's less astute fans saw  "Rachel Roy" and immediately thought of Ray,   despite the former being a fashion designer with   no television connections. Ray then became  the target of rage, receiving tweets such as, "Never watching ur show again  Rachel u r a homewrecker." "What a difference a vowel makes." "Yeah."  "What a difference a vowel makes." Infidelity rumors Rachael Ray married John Cusimano — a  musician, actor, and lawyer — in 2005,   and fans are quite familiar with him by  way of his frequent appearances on Ray's   daytime show. Unfortunately, while the host  has never been accused of cheating herself,   she has for years had to deal with reports of her  husband's indiscretions. Plus, she has faced a lot   of judgment from the public for her husband's  actions, which have not even been proven true. Despite the unverified nature of the rumors,  Ray and Cusimano have continually had to defend   their relationship. In a 2007 interview with  People, Ray confirmed she had heard about six   women her husband allegedly cheated with but  made it clear she was no duped spouse, saying, "I've known where he is every  night since we've been married." "And we have talked every  day since the night we met." The couple also felt pushed to put  out an official denial in 2013 after   tabloids alleged that Cusimano  was a regular at a New York City   swingers club called Checkers,  with their publicist sharing, "This is yet another pack of  lies printed by the National   Enquirer who have been targeting John and  Rachael for several years with no merit." Family feud Many people can identify with not seeing  eye-to-eye with a relative or even cutting   them out of the picture when the relationship  becomes too toxic. In the case of Rachael Ray,   it was a more distant relative who decided to call  her out in the media; her cousin, who was incensed   over the death of her mother and armed with the  belief that Ray is to blame. The unfortunate death   of Ray's aunt turned into a full-on war after  the TV personality and her husband skipped out   on the funeral, and the tabloids jumped on  the chance to paint Ray in a negative light. Ray's aunt, Geraldine, died after accidentally  locking herself outside in freezing weather. This   occurred in November 2013 when she was house  sitting for her sister, Ray's mother, Elsa,   in chilly upstate New York. In an interview with  the National Enquirer, Ray's cousin, Gina, said, "My mother is dead today because  the Ray family neglected her." When it came time for the funeral, Ray and her  husband were not in attendance due to work,   with Gina blasting the couple, saying, "It's inexcusable. It shows  a total lack of caring." Public blame "No idea why the dog chews on me. I contain  nothing that would help them live a happy,   healthy life like Nutrish Whole  Health Blend. I'm a stick." When a celebrity puts their name on something,  they are often expected to be held accountable   for that product. When Rachael Ray's dog  food, Nutrish, faced a giant lawsuit,   Ray shouldered nearly all of the public outrage  rather than simply a portion of it. People seemed   to either forget or conveniently ignore that she  was not involved with the day-to-day operations   or the manufacturing of the product line when  it was found to have a harmful ingredient. The pet food line was originally manufactured by  Ainsworth Pet Nutrition before being purchased   by the J.M. Smucker Company, who owned it when  a $5 million class action lawsuit was filed in   2018. In the lawsuit, a consumer pointed out that  the so-called "natural" dog food contained the   herbicide glyphosate, which he alleged was false  advertising. A judge dismissed the case in 2019   due to a lack of specificity, but Ray already took  the brunt of the harsh criticism from the media. That is to be expected — the canine food is  officially named Rachael Ray Nutrish — but one   would expect the actual defendant, Smucker,  to be namechecked in the headlines too. "You're ridiculous, you're so  cute. It's okay Marti. One second,   honey. If I can do it Marti, you can." Guilty and grateful In mid-2020, Rachael Ray lost her Upstate  New York home to fire, and in 2021,   extreme flooding took her New York City  apartment. But Ray lost more than just   property and material possessions during the  COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, she also   had to say goodbye to her beloved dog, Isaboo,  who died in May 2020. She wrote on Instagram, "Today @johnmcusimano and I mourn the loss  of a dog; a pit bull who taught us more about   unconditional love, empathy, and understanding  of one another than we could have ever imagined." Despite her loss, Ray remained able  to put things into perspective — she   recognized the gift of time that  she was able to spend with Isaboo   due to the world slowing down. She  explained in an interview with Extra, "When I lost my dog I was so grateful that I  could be with her the last several months of   her life... she died in my arms. I felt guilty and  grateful at the same time. People suffered actual   human loss from COVID or because they couldn't  get care... and how many people died alone." A month after Isaboo died, Ray and  her husband adopted another pup,   who they named Bella Boo Blue in  honor of their deceased pit bull.