Chef Mario Batali is attempting a comeback

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I will say this straight off the bat: I love Mario Batali. He has been my favorite since I got into cooking and cooking shows. He was great on Iron Chef America and The Chew. His show Molto Mario was before I started watching. Whenever I read or hear a question about "who would you love to have over for dinner?" (or have a drink with, etc) my answer is always immediately Batali. My ex and I had an amazing dinner at one of his NYC restaurants several years ago. That being said he was accused of sexual assault, rape, etc. back in 2017 and it destroyed his career and his connection to his impressive business empire. Some of the investigations didn't result in charges and he was acquitted of a sexual assault case in Boston. He wound up being bought out the businesses by his business partner, Joe Bastianich, and he retreated to his house in northern Michigan. He stopped using social media. He was in hiding. . . . . . until October when he reactivated his Instagram account and teased upcoming online cooking classes. They did in fact occur on December 1 and 2. I was interested until I learned that they cost $50 each. Nope. No thanks. Not to learn how to make cacio e pepe and bucatini al'amatricana which I already know how to moake. I hate the idea of him being accused of sexual assault and rape but that doesn't discount the fact that he is an incredible chef and is very knowledgeable about so many things. The man is smart. He has stopped drinking and is out of the NYC food party world. I still have several of his cookbooks and I would watch him online or on TV. . . but not for $50.