Maru Botana filmed a statement, got emotional and responded to the accusations of her former colleagues Jimena Monteverde and Coco Carreño
An old war resurfaced in recent days in the gastronomy world when Jimena Monteverde recalled the conflict she had with Maru Botana, accusing her of having requested her dismissal from a channel and leaving her without a job. These statements generated a media boom just before the pastry chef’s debut as a judge on Bake Off Famosos.
Following the uproar caused by Monteverde’s statements, Maru posted a video of more than five minutes on her Instagram account, where she gave her version of the events: “I’m tired of hearing people talking badly about me. I don’t know if it’s the way and the place to do it, but I feel that I have to speak and if I haven’t done so until now, it’s because I feel that there’s nothing nicer than saying things face to face,” the professional began by saying, visibly upset.
“That’s what I teach my children, that when they have a problem, they should talk about it. There’s nothing worse than defaming someone, speaking badly of someone when the person isn’t there, which is what’s happening to me,” Botana continued, and then she addressed her colleague directly: “I’m talking to you, Jimena. I don’t know you, I don’t know who you are, but I want to tell you to stay calm. I never took your job away from you, nor would I take it away from anyone else. I am a job creator. There are authorities at the channel, I don’t decide. I want to get that idea out, it hurts me, I’m anxious.”
Next, Maru referred to the statements of another colleague with whom she also shared work projects: “Coco Carreño lived in my house, worked with me and my mother loved him, I made him popular,” she said. “I have a job, I have my children, I have had enormous pain in my life and I don’t want it anymore. I am tired of people hurting me. People who had a problem and didn’t solve it, don’t accuse me,” Botana concluded.
Jimena Monteverde spoke about her relationship with Maru Botana
A week ago, Jimena Monteverde rekindled the scandal with Maru Botana after declaring on the show +Caras, hosted by Héctor Maugeri, that her colleague left her without a job. “Why does Maru Botana hate you?” Maugeri asked her. “I don’t know if she hates me and if the word is hate, but that speaks more of the other person’s insecurity. To work in television you have to be a little bad, and I’m not. That’s why it’s harder for me than other people to find my place or stand firm. I always believed that people were good, and they aren’t always,” Monteverde responded, before going deeper into the conflict.
“We had a show on América TV on weekends, and they were going to give us the chance to go on during the week. She presented several pilots until they approved one and she asked for exclusivity on the channel. So Coco (Carreño) and I couldn’t be on it anymore,” he recalled about the origin of the confrontation.
“I never thought I would be on a channel and ask to be the only cook. I don’t know exactly what happened. What I do know is that it was very sad for me. Maru Botana was the biggest disappointment I had on television. I had managed to do the programme I wanted and I felt displaced. They left me and many people who worked with me without work,” she concluded.
Coco Carreño and Maru Botana worked together a few years ago
In this context, Coco Carreño recalled his bad work experience with Maru in an interview on Pasa Montagna (Radio Rivadavia) and referred to Monteverde’s statements. “A topic that smells of mothballs has returned. Jime gave a divine note… but she already knows what the environment is like and she began to speak relaxed. Sometimes you don’t realize that what you say can have repercussions. But she didn’t say anything that isn’t true or that hasn’t happened. What she said, happened,” the cook began by saying.
“Do you know for a fact that Maru asked América to take them off, that a cooking show of hers was exclusive?” asked host Pablo Montagna: “I don’t know if Maru, the authorities of that channel decided that two cooking shows couldn’t be aired, I assume for budgetary reasons. But they didn’t even inform us. There wasn’t much of an explanation… so when that happens, you get angry. It was very strange.”
