Adam Richman, star of NBC's "Food Fighters," stood by his recent endorsement of Walmart beef on Tuesday, firing back at those who've criticized his decisions.
"People are going to hate if they’re going to hate, and I can’t control that," Richman
told HuffPost Live. "I met with ranchers, I met with the head of the beef program, I realized that they really have made profound steps to make their beef program a solid one."
Richman appeared in a spring Walmart TV ad promoting the beef called "Tip for the Perfect Burger," which was met with accusations of hypocrisy and selling out.
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"Richman spun off his work as America's most beloved binge-eater into a job endorsing questionable food choices from Walmart, disguised under the cloak of summer grilling tips courtesy of America's largest retailer,"
wrote one blogger in early July.
"In this paradoxical ad, a noticeably slimmer Richman uses his 'burger lover' credentials to sell the public some of the artery-filling red meat he's clearly been cutting back on."
The writer brought up Richman's recent weight loss, which initially earned the TV personality heaps of praise, but also got him into trouble this year after he used a hashtag, #Thinspiration, in an Instragram post celebrating the weight loss. After users pointed out that the hashtag was often associated with eating disorders, Richman issued an online rant, telling one fan to commit suicide. He later apologized for the rant.
Richman pressed on after the flap, and his new show debuted July 22 without a hitch.
Maintaining his stance on Walmart beef, he concluded, "If it were a product I didn’t believe in, if it were an approach I didn’t believe in, I wouldn’t do it."
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