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Four months after sexual misconduct allegations emerged against celebrity chef Mario Batali, one of his former Food Network colleagues, Giada De Laurentiis, is opening up about how she reacted to the news �� and about the issues women face in the restaurant industry.Back in December, in separate reports by Eater and The New York Times, several women came forward saying Batali had touched them inappropriately, and that female employees at the Spotted Pig restaurant would call him the “Red Menace�� because of his behavior. Batali apologized, saying in a statement, “Although the identities of most of the individuals mentioned in these stories have not been revealed to me, much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted.”Batali stepped away from his company’s operations. He was also fired by ABC’s "The Chew," an upcoming Food Network series was shelved and his products were removed from the food-store chain Eataly. Now, he is reportedly volunteering abroad while he figures out his next move. During an episode of Eater’s Upsell podcast, De Laurentiis said Batali had been a mentor to her when she was establishing a restaurant in Las Vegas. Then Cohost Amanda Kludt asked her how things have been in the months since the allegations emerged. De Laurentiis said the allegations didn’t “come as a huge shock,�� even though she didn’t have similar experiences to his accusers, but she was still sad to hear them. “I keep saying to people, it’s time but it’s also really sad. Now, I did not have those exact experiences with him, but I don’t know that, it doesn’t come as a huge shock. Anybody who’s ever hung out with Mario knows he’s a very charismatic person. We drink too much and sometimes, you know, whatever. I’m not legitimizing it by any means. I know I’ve been through my own issues in this business. I think any woman in any business goes through stuff. It’s just sad, you know? It’s time, but it’s also sad. It’s a combo, and I think we all feel both.”De Laurentiis had a similar message for TMZ immediately after the allegations surfaced. “It’s all very sad, but you know what, what has to happen, happens, and I hope that everybody feels better,�� she said. “It’s obviously a time of cleansing.”During the podcast, she also noted that women, both in and out of the food industry, have an opportunity to work together to make change �� and also had an uplifting message:“But I think we, as women, need to help each other more, and we need to stick up for ourselves, and I think that we need to change our culture, and the children need to learn to respect human beings, no matter what you look like, who you are, male or female. We just need to be respectful. Someone says they don’t wanna do something, they don’t wanna do it, period. Let’s just be nice to each other."Listen to the full podcast below: