Duff Goldman The Food Network star shared his grievances on Twitter last night—with pretty convincing proof.
Duff Goldman has been whipping up insane cakes on Food Network and running his own very popular Baltimore bake shop, Charm City Cakes, for years — so it’s no surprise he was tapped by event planners to create a towering masterpiece for former President Barack Obama’s 2013 inaugural celebrations.
Well, fast forward four years, and it looks like that elaborate confection got another moment in the presidential spotlight again — except this time Goldman didn’t make it.
The Food Network chef took to Twitter on Friday night to share a photo of his original nine-tiered, patriotic creation next to a photo of a cake President Donald Trump sliced into with a saber at last night’s Armed Services Ball. He also added a healthy dose of shade.
Goldman wrote: “The cake on the left is the one I made for President Obama’s inauguration 4 years ago. The one on the right is Trumps. I didn’t make it.”
It’s hard to deny the similarities, right down to the number of layers, color palette and icing details. Both cakes appear to show off the presidential seal and other decorative elements, such as emblems for all the branches of the armed forces, that seem to be exact replicas
There’s no information yet or comment from the evening’s event planners around the inspiration for the cake. Some Twitter users are speculating that the people behind this year’s cake may be the same ones who helped set up celebrations four years before and are giving planners the benefit of the doubt: When you land on a winning concept, why change it? Others wonder if perhaps there’s a design formula the cake has always followed. (Editor’s note: We’re looking for example photos of cakes from previous inaugurations, such as President George W. Bush, to see if they follow a similar pattern.)
Of course, these cake claims come half a year after critics went after First Lady Melania Trump for plagiarizing segmentsin her 2016 Republican Convention remarks from a previous speech by former First Lady Michelle Obama.
And the internet was having a field day yesterday joking that Trump lifted lines from a speech by Batman villain Bane for his inaugural address. So, more fodder for the copycat grist mill.
From Harper’s Bazaar