Cooking competitions are the perfect place to insert some politics, according to actress and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi. Because Planned Parenthood is as essential as food to her.
On Thursday night, during the 15th season finale of Bravo’s Top Chef, judges Padma Lakshmi, Gail Simmons, Tom Colicchio, and Graham Elliot sported Planned Parenthood pins. Lakshmi took to Twitter to defend the fashion choice and elaborate on the reasoning behind them.
“We need food for survival, we also need privacy to deal with our own bodies as we see fit,” she responded to one tweeter who asked, “Why does politics have to invade everything?”
She took full credit for the pins.
“I’ve been supporting @PPFA for a long, long time and want to thank @BravoTopChef for letting me showcase them tonight,” she added.
In response, she won the praise of Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, who commended her.
“Your support is always appreciated,” Richards tweeted out, along with a heart emoji.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time the media have connected Planned Parenthood to food. Richards has shared her baking habits with both People magazine and feminist Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti.
For her part, Lakshmi has proven a vocal supporter of Planned Parenthood. Last year, on CNN, she slammed attempts to defund the abortion giant, saying “So little of what Planned Parenthood does is abortion.” (Never mind that it has committed 7.6 million abortions since 1973, the year the Supreme Court heard Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in this country.)
Throughout the years, she has unabashedly supported Planned Parenthood on Twitter, from celebrating its 100th anniversary to asking her followers to warn their senators about defunding Planned Parenthood.
And Lakshmi isn’t alone. Hundreds of other Hollywood celebrities also support Planned Parenthood. Like Lakshmi, many of them have taken to wearing the pins in public, including Emma Stone.
According to Planned Parenthood’s most recently published annual report, the organization performed 321,384 abortions and received $543.7 million in “government health services, reimbursements & grants” for the year 2016 – 2017.
