Gordon Ramsay was the latest celebrity to be targeted in a swatting scam, according to authorities.
The celebrity chef, 58, had his Bel Air home targeted by pranksters who thought it would be amusing to dispatch emergency services to his abode, law enforcement sources told TMZ Wednesday.
The Johnstone, UK native’s home was the basis of a fraudulent report in which a prankster said that shots were being fired at the mansion, police told TMZ.
Ramsay, who has broken through on TV with shows like Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, was not present at the time of the incident, sources told the outlet.
Police who arrived said all was normal and confirmed nothing serious ad happened with neighbors who witnessed the non-incident unfold, according to the outlet.
Dailymail.com has reached out to reps for Ramsay and the Los Angeles Police Department for further comment on this story.
Gordon Ramsay was the latest celebrity to be targeted in a swatting scam, according to authorities. The celeb chef appears on the Fox series Kitchen Nightmares. Pictured 2023
Law enforcement told the outlet that a probe has been launched in connection with the incident.
The celeb chef did not appear to address the swatting prank on his social media pages.
Dailymail.com reached out to Ramsay and his spouse Tana for more detail on the incident.
Police said the details lined up with it being a swatting incident, which has past impacted a number of prominent Hollywood personalities.
According to the AP, ‘Swatting is the practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.
‘Bomb threats go back decades in the U.S., but swatting has become especially popular in recent years as people and groups target celebrities and politicians.’
Among them include Cardi B, Rihanna, Jennifer Aniston, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton and Chris Brown, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and even the Playboy Mansion.
Prior to 2020, stars such as Pharrell, Lil Wayne, Simon Cowell, Tom Cruise, Ashton Kutcher and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs were targeted for the dangerous prank.
The celeb chef was pictured with wife Tana, 50, in an Instagram post earlier this week
The mercurial chef – who police say was not home at the time of the incident – was pictured in Boston earlier this week
