Food Network Chef Eric Adjepong Allegedly Violated Ex-Wife’s Protective Order a Year Before Being Barred from Contacting Daughter Unsupervised
Food Network Chef Eric Adjepong Allegedly Violated Ex-Wife’s Protective Order a Year Before Being Barred from Contacting Daughter Unsupervised
Chiara KimTue, July 28, 2026 at 12:10 AM UTC
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Eric Adjepong allegedly violated a January 2025 protective order by contacting his wifeCredit: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty -
Eric Adjepong is prohibited from contacting his daughter unsupervised until completing parenting classes and reunification therapy in a July 10, 2026 protective order
Adjepong allegedly violated another temporary protective order in January 2025 by contacting his ex-wife through a court-mandated parenting app
After the July 10 protective order was issued, Adjepong denied allegations of child abuse and said investigations by law enforcement and child services found no evidence of abuse
A year before a Maryland judge issued a protective order against Food Network chef Eric Adjepong, barring him from contacting his daughter unsupervised, the chef allegedly violated a separate protective order in January 2025 by contacting his ex-wife.
In a different protective order on July 10, 2026, Howard County Circuit Court Judge Maurice C. Frazier found that “there is a preponderance of the evidence to believe” Adjepong physically abused his 7-year-old daughter, whom he shares with ex-wife Janell Davis-Mack, per The Washington Post.
Court records viewed by PEOPLE showed that the July 10, 2026 order prohibits Adjepong from abusing, contacting, or entering the residence or school of his daughter.
The TV host is currently prohibited by the July 10 order from contacting his daughter unsupervised until he completes parenting classes and reunification therapy, per the Post.
Records viewed by PEOPLE showed that Adjepong was charged with violating a different protective order in January 2025.
A July 10, 2026 protective order barred Adjepong from seeing his daughter unsupervisedCredit: Rob Kim/Getty
The Post reported that in January 2025, Adjepong was charged with violating the separate temporary protective order by contacting his ex-wife. The outlet said the 2025 order was connected to a petition by Davis-Mack for protection from domestic violence, per Howard County court records.
The Howard County Clerk’s Office told the outlet that the documents in the case are unavailable to the public. The records in the case viewed by PEOPLE said that “full case information cannot be made available” online.
Adjepong told PEOPLE in a statement shared by his attorney regarding the January 2025 alleged violation that Davis-Mack had allegedly “improperly withheld access to the parties’ daughter.” The Washington Post reported that Adjepong filed a motion claiming his ex-wife was violating their settlement agreement by preventing him from seeing his child in January 2025. The outlet said Davis-Mack denied the charges and filed a motion to modify the custody agreement.
Adjepong’s statement continued that the day after Davis-Mack sought the January 2025 protective order, Adjepong tried to contact his daughter via OurFamilyWizard, “a court required communications app” designed for “the parties to discuss issues relating to their daughter.”
“The court dismissed the alleged violation of the protective order, recognizing that there was an inherent conflict between the no contact provision of the protective order and the court’s requirement that the parties use the OurFamilyWizard on custody matters,” the statement said.
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Todd K. Mohink, an attorney for Davis-Mack, told PEOPLE that the January 2025 order was dismissed because its parameters are now included in a civil custody order.
“It was dismissed not because the court didn’t find that my client reached the burden of evidence, but because the exact language from the protective order, literally word for word, in other words, word for word as to what [Adjepong] wasn’t allowed to do... was included in the consent order,” he said of the January 2025 order.
He added, “The exact language was put into a civil consent order, so she had the same protection, but it was from a civil order rather than a protective order.”
The March 13, 2025 consent order obtained by PEOPLE said the court ordered that Adjepong not abuse, contact, or enter Davis-Mack’s residence or place of employment. It mandated that Adjepong and Davis-Mack only communicate through OurFamilyWizard and only in regards to their child.
In a statement to PEOPLE via his attorney regarding the July 10 protective order, Adjepong said, “Because this matter involves my young daughter, whom I love deeply, I intend to protect her privacy and will not discuss the underlying allegations or other sensitive family matters publicly other than to say that these allegations arose in the context of a long running divorce and custody proceeding, which finally concluded on June 2, 2026.”
“The Court’s protective order followed careful reviews by law enforcement and the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA),” the statement continued regarding the July 10 protective order. “The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department closed its investigation without filing charges. CFSA concluded its investigation with an ‘unfounded’ disposition, which its report defines as not true. I have the utmost respect for the Circuit Court that issued the protective order and am strictly complying with every facet of the order, which is designed to ensure that my daughter is safe and treated respectfully, and to ensure her reunification with her father.”
Adjepong’s statement about the July 10 protective order concluded, “The Judge eloquently described the nature of my relationship with her at the hearing. My foremost concern is my daughter’s well-being. It is my fervent hope that in the future my ex-wife and I can resolve these matters privately and through the proper legal channels, rather than in the press, if only for the well-being of our daughter.”
Mohink told the Washington Post of the July 10 protective order, “The court did the right thing to protect the best interests of the child.”
On July 17, Davis-Mack wrote on Instagram about the July 10 order, “My daughter was just granted a protective order against her father because she was brave enough to speak up against who should have been one of the most trusted adults in her life.Unfortunately for him — I’ll never stop believing her, protecting her, or reminding her that her voice matters.”
Adjepong was a finalist on Top Chef: Kentucky in 2018 and has appeared on multiple Food Network series like Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Beat Bobby Flay.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
