For nearly a month, Chef Marilyn’s restaurant has been embroiled in a public battle over legal ownership.
Marilyn Ann Cole has been operating the restaurant on Crenshaw Boulevard for 38 years. The 71-year-old restaurateur said she was pushed out of her own business following a deal with two attorneys.
“It was my understanding that we were going to be partners in this business,” Cole told The LA Local in front of the restaurant during a rally on Sunday held by the Africa Town Coalition, a community activist group.
However, the attorneys, Channing B. Smith and Cierra Carter, have publicly denied any wrongdoing and said they intervened to help stabilize the restaurant amid financial distress. They said their actions — including restructuring the business and addressing outstanding debts — were necessary to keep the operation afloat.
“There were so many unpaid bills we had to set up a new business structure with Chef Marilyn following bankruptcy,” Carter said in an April 21 Instagram post. “It was the only way to keep the restaurant open.”
The LA Local has reached out to both attorneys. Carter’s publicist referred inquiries to an April 28 Instagram post. Smith did not return a request for comment.
At the center of the conflict is the question of ownership and legal agreements. Cole frames the situation as exploitation, elder abuse and loss of legacy, while the attorneys argue it was a legitimate business intervention during a financial crisis.
The future of the restaurant is uncertain, as both sides dispute what was signed, what was promised and who ultimately holds the rights to Chef Marilyn’s brand.
Here’s everything we know about the dispute:
What Chef Marilyn says
Cole said she stopped cooking at the restaurant on April 9 after a spat with Smith about money, and that Smith and Carter closed the restaurant on April 20.
On April 20, activist Najee Ali posted a video of Cole explaining that she believed she had been taken advantage of by the attorneys. In the video,she urged customers not to return to the restaurant unless she’s there.
In that video, Cole said the attorneys approached her about the partnership during a fundraiser for the restaurant in February. Cole told The LA Local on Sunday that Smith and Carter invested $21,000 in the restaurant and that she ultimately signed a deal that transferred her ownership rights — making her an employee — but it’s a deal she didn’t fully understand.
“You can call me naive, you can call me whatever you want, but I was just hoping and praying that these two women were going to be the perfect business partnership,” Cole said.
The same day, Smith and Carter announced in an Instagram post on the Chef Marilyn’s restaurant page that there is now new ownership of the restaurant.
“2638 Crenshaw Blvd has gotten a facelift, in the form of new owners,” the post’s caption read. “Loads of exciting new things coming soon. In the meantime, we still have so many of your faves still available.”
After the social media posts, locals began speaking out about what the restaurant has meant to the community.
“Chef Marilyn has been in our community for almost 40 years, serving us,” said Billion Godsun, a member of the Africa Town Coalition. “A lot of folks have come out and said how she’s donated food, contributed food, catered a lot of events and hired a lot of people.”
What the attorneys say
Smith, one of the attorneys, said that she and Carter made a deal with Cole to compensate for her work in the kitchen and to use her name, likeness and recipes.
“We asked Chef Marilyn if she wanted to be a member of this new business structure and she said no. She told us she only wanted to be a chef,” Smith said in the April 21 Instagram video.
In a joint statement posted Tuesday on Instagram, Smith and Carter addressed Cole’s claims and said they had been receiving “serious threats” since the release of the videos and that they held a private meeting with Cole on April 23.
“Marilyn left the meeting saying she wanted to sleep on the business discussions but said she would prioritize bringing down the tension. Instead of returning to discussion, we got yet another misleading, one-sided video filled with untruths designed to harm our reputations in our careers and our community,” the post read.
Smith and Carter reiterated in their joint statement that Cole understood the agreement, chose to close the business and was paid all money agreed to in their contract.
“We wanted to, and did, rescue a beloved institution in our community,” the post read.
So what happens now?
Cole told The LA Local she plans to hire an attorney, and the dispute isn’t over.
“I never wanted to fight these young ladies,” she said during the rally. “I love cooking and making people happy, but it’s gotten way out of hand and too far for us to salvage.”
The attorneys said in their statement that they’re committed to meeting with Cole “to resolve this instead of letting it play out on social media.”
“We believe the right forum is one where Marilyn will come together with us to resolve this issue. We are available to meet with her. No videos for social media are necessary, no protests are necessary. Just us and Marilyn and those who will assist us in securing a solution,” the statement read.
