Madison Cowan was recently outed as an alleged deadbeat tenant after his Brooklyn landlord, Gus Sheha, told The New York Post that the British-born chef hasn’t paid rent for his one-bedroom Boerum Hill apartment in over two years.
Cowan allegedly owed a whopping $73,700 in back rent. The chef’s rent ranged from a monthly payment of $2,700 to $2,750.
According to Sheha, Cowan exploited the state’s eviction moratorium, which went from March 2020 to January 15, and claimed his tenant was trying to get over on the system. When the moratorium was lifted, Sheha’s lawyer slapped Cowan and his family with a 90-day eviction notice, stating they had to be out by May 1 or eviction proceedings would start.
“He leaves his house wearing a different fur every day,” Sheha said. “How broke can he be? If there was no COVID-19, I would have taken him to court two years ago to get him evicted.”
On August 31, Cowan emailed Sheha about his financial situation and how the pandemic “negatively impacted” his “income and bottom line.” The chef also told the landlord that he’s “willing to do [his] part” to get his rent paid through a state rental assistance program, which Sheha says Cowan didn’t apply for until June.
So far, Sheha has not received a response from Cowan and said that he expects to wait at least another year before the housing court system hears his case since they are backed up with other cases. In the meantime, Cowan reportedly still lives rent-free in the apartment.
The champion chef who starred on Food Network shows Chopped, and Iron Chef has catered for A-list celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Anderson, and Bill Clinton, which has the landlord wondering why Cowan won’t pay his rent.
The Food Network has chosen Cowan as a contestant on the show Chopped, and he won three times.
The chef’s net worth is reported to be $500,000.
