Celebrity chef cut broker out of commission on $3M buy: suit

From left: Marcus Samuelsson, Maya Haile and 30 West 120th Street
From left: Marcus Samuelsson, Maya Haile and 30 West 120th Street

Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson has been accused in a lawsuit of cheating a real estate broker out of his commission on the purchase of a $3 million Harlem townhouse.

Samuelsson bought the four-bedroom, four-bathroom townhouse at 30 West 120th Street in January, as  The Real Deal reported. But the chef — who owns Harlem’s Red Rooster and counts President Barack Obama and supermodel Cindy Crawford as admirers — didn’t whip up even a single dollar in commission for his broker, Laurent Delly, according to the suit Delly filed in Manhattan civil court which was seen by the New York Post.

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Delly claims in the suit that the seller’s broker received a 6 percent commission, and he is suing Samuelsson for his $75,000 cut.

Samuelsson’s attorney Fred Daniels told the newspaper that “the claim against Marcus Samuelsson has no legal basis and lacks any true validity.” [NYP]  – Hiten Samtani