I’m talking to Guy Fieri a few days after Diplo revealed during a live interview with Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper on CNN’s New Year’s Eve special that he was under the influence because he had just done some LSD.
The celebrity chef and cooking show star is promoting his annual Guy’s Flavortown Tailgate Super Bowl party, which will feature an appearance by the DJ and music producer.
“If you know Diplo, you understand what a character he is,” Fieri says. “He also has a very nice PG-side of himself.”
In other words, Fieri and his team aren’t worried about Diplo pulling any drug-induced antics at the family-friendly event. “Diplo and I do a lot of events together. He’s one of my favorite people in the world,” he says. “I do a big thing with him at Stagecoach. I think Diplo and I have returned more to Stagecoach than anybody. He’s such a genuine person.”
Flavortown Tailgate’s bill will also include performances from Flava Flav and New Orleans rock band Cowboy Mouth. The free event will offer food and drinks by Carnival, Crock-Pot, King’s Hawaiian, Tyson, Sabra, Hellmann’s, Crock-Pot, GNC, Flavortown Sauce, Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch, Natalie’s Juice and Santo Tequila.
The party, which is expected to host 10,000 guests, takes place at Mardi Gras World on Sunday from 12-5 p.m. CT.
“It’s free and all of this is within walking distance between the hotels and the stadium, if they are going to the game,” Fieri says. “We also carved off 2,000 of the tickets just to make sure that our brothers and sisters who are active military and veterans and first responders are available for them. I have a lot of other people who come and say, ‘Well, wait a second, I don’t want to get into the whole mix. I want a table. I want to watch the band.’ We have a great VIP package, too.”
Guy Fieri hosts Guy’s Flavortown Tailgate party in Las Vegas in 2024.
I suggest Fieri expand Flavortown to other cities to be held at the same time as the Super Bowl host city festivities. “Wouldn’t that be cool?” he says. “I do have all my brothers and sisters in the Flavortown army out there. That is a damn good idea.”
Security plans for Sunday’s Flavortown were scrutinized following the New Orleans terror attack on New Year’s Day that killed 15 people and injured at least 57. “Everybody dropped what they were doing at the time and we said, ‘Let’s all focus on security now,’” Fieri recalls.
Fieri’s team is working with local law enforcement as well as the NFL because it is “our responsibility to make sure that everybody is and feels incredibly safe.”
