“Top Chef” Contestant Attacked

One of the former contestants on Bravo’s second season of the hit reality show “Top Chef” fell victim to a hate crime which was prompted by her sexual orientation. Josie Smith-Malave, originally from Miami, is openly gay. She was the former sous chef for Marlow and Sons Restaurant and has also played football for the New York Sharks of the Independent Woman’s Football League.

She was with a small group of two other women in a fairly affluent area of Long Island, New York, when they were asked to leave from Partner’s Bar in Sea Cliff over the Labor Day weekend after two of the women began to dance. The response of the other patrons in the bar is what prompted employees to escort the women out one of the side doors of the establishment. The women left willingly. The group included Smith-Malave, her straight sister, and another companion. As they were leaving, a group of approximately ten to twelve people described as “young adults” followed them out and began to make anti-gay remarks, spitting at the women, throwing debris at them, and finally beating them. At this time there is no additional information about the identities of the attackers. All three women were bruised and slightly injured in the attack, a camera was stolen, and one of the women received minor head injuries from the blows sustained from the attackers punches.

The police force of Nassau County is investigating the incident, but has not released additional details of the attack to the media at this time. It is known that no arrests were made at the scene of the crime, even though some of the attackers are rumored to have remained inside the bar after police were summoned. This lack of action has already started to draw criticism. Smith-Malave’s attorney Yetta Kurland has already stated that she will have the incident investigated specifically as a hate crime. Hopefully, these attackers will be brought to justice as soon as a more thorough investigation can take place.