A former top Disney exec allegedly hatched a treacherous plot to seize an acclaimed Napa Valley restaurant from the estate of late celebrity chef Michael Chiarello — cheating the chef’s widow and children out of their inheritance, according to an explosive lawsuit.
Rich Frank — who did a nine-year stint as president of Disney Studios under Jeffrey Katzenberg beginning in the mid-1980s, cranking out hits including “Pretty Woman,” “The Lion King” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” — allegedly cooked up a “malicious scheme” to take over Chiarello’s thriving restaurants, according to the lawsuit.
Those included Bottega — a hotspot frequented by the likes of Julia Roberts, Sophia Loren, Ryan Seacrest Carrie Underwood and David Beckham, according to the suit filed in Napa County Superior Court on Monday.
Frank and hospitality entrepreneur John Hansen — who had both been minority investors in the business — had issued a press release June 10 heralding their takeover of Bottega, calling themselves “longtime friends” of Chiarello.
But according to the suit — shortly after Food Network star Chiarello died unexpectedly in November 2023 at age 61 due to an allergic reaction — Frank, Hansen and a third investor, Peter Crowley — met at Bottega to allegedly hatch a scheme at the “expense of the plaintiffs,” which include his surviving family.
Over dinner, the trio “finalized their plan to defraud the estate, seize assets and eliminate any association with Chef Chiarello, his estate, his family or his legacy,” the suit claims.
“Given the devastating circumstances, I expected cooperation from these investors, especially considering that over the years Michael had treated them like family,” said Eileen Gordon, who is Chiarello’s widow and the mother of his youngest daughter.
“Yet the people he trusted took everything for themselves, depriving all other shareholders including Chef Chiarello’s children,” Gordon told The Post, noting their daughter was a senior in high school when her dad died.
Following Chiarello’s surprise death, the suit claims the defendants immediately took charge of his three restaurants — the acclaimed Bottega in Napa Valley, Ottimo Yountville, the casual dining spot next door to Bottega; and Coqueta, a beloved Spanish eatery on San Francisco’s Embarcadero.
The lawsuit alleged that the defendants “falsely represented themselves” as owners of the restaurants when in fact they were minority stakeholders in single-purpose entities that owned them.
According to court papers, Frank allegedly held secret meetings at his home where he directed restaurant staff to stop selling wines from the Chiarello Family Vineyards — featured on Bottega’s menu for more than 15 years — and replace them with wines from Frank Family Vineyards.
Frank sold his winery in 2021 for $315 million to Treasury Wine Estates, but his family remains involved and his wife Leslie was named to the board of directors last year, according to Arnold & Porter, which advised the family on the sale.
Gordon, who was the estate’s trustee, attempted to communicate with Crowley, a consultant and paid advisor to one of the entities, about plans to protect the chef’s legacy, the suit claims. But Crowley allegedly ignored Gordon and dealt with Frank and Hansen instead.
It was all part of a “malicious plan” by the trio, who in February 2024 sent Gordon a letter saying they would buy the restaurants what the lawsuit deems a “hostile takeover.”
The suit claims that a critical option expired for the estate to claim ownership of Bottega, but because the paperwork was allegedly withheld by the investors, the estate had no way of knowing. That paved the way for the defendants to acquire Bottega, the suit claims.
In April 2024, the defendants allegedly told Gordon that once the deal was done, she and the estate would be out of the business. The lawsuit likewise alleges that the investors relied on falsified financial information to win a rock-bottom price for the assets.
A legal battle ensued after Gordon allegedly refused and both sides entered into arbitration, according to court papers. The arbiter sided with the defendants and Bottega was sold to Frank and Hansen in May 2025, along with valuable intellectual property such as trademarks, menus, concepts, and recipes.
“The minority investors exercised their legal right to acquire Bottega from the estate in accordance with Bottega’s ownership agreement and the decision of an arbitrator,” attorneys for Frank and Hansen told The Post Tuesday. The Post reached out to Crowley for comment.
The IP, however, was never transferred by Chiarello to the restaurant LLC governed by the arbitration, and is rightfully Gordon’s, the suit alleges. Gordon, claiming the estate’s value has been impacted over the Bottega sale and transfer of the IP, and is seeking unspecified damages that could balloon due to the alleged malicious and fraudulent acts of the defendants.
“After an extraordinary career, Michael soldiered through the worst five years, from 2017 to 2021, to save his Napa Valley institutions after wildfires, COVID, and then more wildfires,” Gordon told The Post.
Based on his enduring reputation, the restaurants had their biggest year ever in 2023,” she added.
“Michael honored his family heritage, and we created our family trust 15 years ago to hold the business assets so they would be passed down to the next generation, not sold off in the event of his death,” Gordon said.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
