BOSTON (AP) β Four members of a Teamsters local accused of intimidating the staff and crew of “Top Chef” while it was filmed in Boston last year have pleaded not guilty to federal extortion charges.
The indictment says members of Teamsters Local 25 demanded that union members be hired as drivers, then threatened and harassed the crew for the reality TV show’s non-union production company.
The Teamsters also are accused of yelling profanities and racial and homophobic slurs at host Padma Lakshmi and the crew while they filmed at Steel & Rye, a restaurant in the Boston suburb of Milton.
Three Teamsters were ordered released Wednesday on $50,000 unsecured bonds, while a fourth was ordered held until a detention hearing Thursday.
Prosecutors say a fifth man was dismissed from the indictment because he was misidentified from a photograph.
