Chef Chakall will receive 1,400 euros in compensation after the court considered defamatory an expression used by Gonçalo Castel-Branco, creator of Chefs on Fire, on social media, in a conflict that dates back to the summer of 2024 and which originated in the Presidential Train project. The court decision marks a new chapter in a dispute that began at the business level and ended in court.
According to the NiT portal, the businessman was convicted of defamation due to the use of the expression “infamous Argentine”, considered an attack on the cook’s honor.
Project that triggered the conflict
Before reaching social media, the disagreement arose in the context of the Presidential Train, a tourist initiative with a strong gastronomic component. According to the same source, Gonçalo Castel-Branco was the creator of the original concept.
Disagreements with CP and the National Railway Museum led the public company to take over the exploration of the project and invite Chakall to ensure the culinary offering, writes the publication, changing the balance initially defined.
Million-dollar compensation in dispute
The businessman understands that the concept belongs to him and accuses his former partners of having advanced a similar model without his participation. According to the same source, it demands compensation of R$950,000 for alleged misuse of the brand The Presidential.
It was in this context of rupture that public statements aimed at the chef emerged, initially framed as criticisms of his professional plan and the conduct of the project.
The words written on social media
In the summer of 2024, Gonçalo Castel-Branco published messages on social media where he called Chakall a “celebrity without gastronomic credibility” and “chico-sperto”, among other expressions, adds the publication.
In one of these interventions he also wrote that “I will fight for as many years as necessary to continue telling my daughters that the world belongs to those who dream”, in a longer message in which he criticized the cook’s trajectory, according to the same source.
Limit on freedom of expression
Among the expressions used, one was considered excessive by the court. According to , the judges understood that the term “infamous” exceeded the permissible limits of freedom of expression.
In its reasoning, the collective highlighted that “not everything goes”, remembering that the message was not said in a moment of discussion, but published online, having been “deliberately reduced to writing”, says the website.
Decision and reactions
The ruling concludes that the expression is “attacking the good name and has an unequivocally offensive meaning to honor and consideration, far exceeding mere rudeness”, writes the publication, setting the compensation at 1,400 euros.
After the decision, Chakall stated: “I felt deeply offended by the things he said about me. I have nothing against him, but I did what I had to do, which was to go to court, which is where these things are resolved. And now I think justice has been served”, he declared to the same outlet. Gonçalo Castel-Branco, on the other hand, announced that he will appeal and admitted: “I regret having spoken out about the case on social media, instead of doing so in court.”
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