After the tragic death of former President Barack Obama‘s personal chef Tafari Campbell, following an apparent paddleboarding incident on Martha’s Vineyard, some people might be wondering whether Campbell possibly rubbed shoulders with another chef associated with Obama, Bobby Flay.
Specifically, it’s worth wondering whether Campbell ever appeared on the Food Network reality show Beat Bobby Flay. It honestly would not be completely out of left field for Campbell to appear on the show in some capacity, since he was said to be a top chef at the White House in his day. However, after doing some research on the topic, I think it is safe to say Campbell never appeared on the show.
You see, We Got This Covered reached out to the Food Network via Discovery Plus’ website to inquire whether Flay knew Campbell or if Campbell was ever on Beat Bobby Flay. A representative reached out to tell us they found no record of Campbell being on the show as a competitor.
It isn’t too surprising that Campbell wasn’t on the show when you consider his lack of true “celebrity” status would render his appearance on it a bit strange. However, there is a good reason people might have connected him and Flay together.
Campbell did work in the White House kitchen as a chef for multiple years — first under George Bush and then Obama — according to Boston.com. Since Flay went to the White House and cooked with Obama on multiple occasions while he was president, as can be seen on The Obama White House’s official YouTube channel, it’s entirely possible Campbell and Flay overlapped at one point. However, there is no concrete evidence to suggest this. There is a video of Obama grilling meat with Flay on what appears to be the White House lawn, for instance, but Campbell was not in the video. Another video on that same YouTube channel featured Flay making egg rolls for Easter on a cooking stage in front of the White House, but again, Campbell was nowhere to be seen.
Just to be safe, we reached out to Flay, via representatives and on social media, to ask whether he ever met Campbell at any point. However, we have yet to hear back from Flay about that specific point.
Though we can confirm that Campbell did not appear on Beat Bobby Flay, the question about whether or not the two chefs crossed paths at one point, off-screen, remains unanswered. The common association the two food lovers have with Obama still makes it plausible they at least met one another at some point, though that hasn’t been confirmed.