The Massachusetts chef who ghosted his pregnant wife and moved to another state racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debt after blowing his money on Ralph Lauren clothing and restaurants.
Charles Withers, who showed up in Texas as a personal chef for Yellowstone founder Taylor Sheridan and his wife Nicole after skipping Ashley McGuire, was sued by American Express in November for $55,000 incurred on his credit card restaurant in Falmouth. Massachusetts.
Amex submitted his credit card statements to the court, which showed he had spent $816 on Ralph Lauren clothing and hundreds of dollars at a Mexican restaurant in Falmouth.
He also spent $143 on tickets to Madame Tussauds in New York and $247 at a surf and skate shop.
Massachusetts mom Ashley McGuire, 32, (left) took to Facebook’s popular ‘Are We Dating The Same Guy?’ group who claimed her husband Charles Withers (pictured) had picked up their family and left them behind
DailyMail.com can reveal Withers had racked up more than $55,000 in debt
Charles, who had previously appeared on an episode of Food Network’s Chopped in 2022, was a rising star in the culinary world. He is said to have left his restaurant C Salt Wine Bar and Grille (pictured) in Falmouth last summer after ‘driving it into the ground’
Withers’ other debts include a $13,167 tax lien from the state of Massachusetts, filed in January, and another in March for $15,393.
The revelations shed new light on Withers’ financial troubles and why he may have fled his family and moved 2,000 miles away to start a new life.
Furious customers of Withers’ restaurant C Salt Wine Bar and Grille complained on online forums that they had purchased gift certificates for the establishment, rendering them worthless when it closed late last year.
Withers, 29, was thrust into the spotlight this week when McGuire, 32, posted about him on the Facebook group ‘Are We Dating the Same Guy?’ after months of not being able to contact him.
Within hours, women in the Dallas area responded that they had seen him there, and some even said he had matched with them on dating apps.
After the story went viral, McGuire told a local radio station that Withers, who is British, had finally reached out and was willing to talk to her.
Earlier this week, DailyMail.com reported that Withers left C Salt Wine Bar and Grille last summer after “running it into the ground” and then abruptly left for Dallas, where he worked for 54-year-old Sheridan.
But the lawsuit filed by Amex shows that Withers had been in financial trouble for months before that.
The complaint, filed last November, states that as of May 2023 — around the time he disappeared — he owed a total of $55,463.98 on his business credit card.
Ashley McGuire appeared on a Boston radio station this week after her story went viral and revealed her husband had contacted her
Mum-of-two Ashley claimed he was ‘missing’ and said she now wants to harness the ‘power’ of social media to track him down and finalize a divorce
“Single moms are a special breed, and I know a lot of you have been through the same situation as me,” she shared
A statement for December 2022 said Withers spent $816.09 on Ralph Lauren clothing.
He spent hundreds of dollars at Casa Vallarta, a Mexican restaurant in Falmouth, including one visit where he paid $123.98 for a meal.
Another $143.67 went to tickets to Madame Tussauds in New York.
Some entries appear to be legitimate restaurant charges, such as $2,088.75 from The Clam Man, a local seafood vendor.
But other expenses for a business card are more questionable, such as $25 to a company called “Tumble Time Gymnastics,” which appears to be a children’s gym.
Withers kept in touch with the news in Britain with his subscription to the Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper, for $12.99.
Another $247.45 went to Board Stiff, a surf and skate shop in Falmouth that appears to have no connection to the culinary industry.
The annual membership fee for the Business Platinum card was a whopping $595.
The statement indicates that Withers had accumulated 552,754 reward points, which would have required substantial expenditure and would have been worth $5,000 if he had spent it on flights.
Furious customers of C Salt Bar and Grille expressed their anger on the TripAdvisor page last year when the restaurant closed.
Withers has surfaced in Texas, where he is working as a celebrity chef for Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, DailyMail.com can reveal
Taylor and Nicole Sheridan won’t say if Withers is still working for them and haven’t even confirmed if he ever was. They are pictured with their son Gus, 13
The current status of Charles’ restaurant has not been officially confirmed, but the eatery is listed as “permanently closed” on Google and has come under heavy fire on TripAdvisor
A reviewer called Diane wrote: ‘My daughter gave us a gift voucher and we booked our table for August 2nd. The reservation was confirmed by Open Table’
One reviewer named Bill said he was “disgusted” with Withers and called him a “classless owner.”
While discussing his gift card, the disgruntled customer wrote, “I went to use it in November 2023 only to find out the restaurant is closed and I stole my gift card dollars! That should be illegal, stealing unused dollars from customers.”
He said: ‘Charles Withers does not deserve any protection for his deceit.’
Another called Diane wrote: ‘My daughter gave us a gift voucher and we booked our table for August 2nd. The reservation was confirmed by OpenTable.
‘We were really looking forward to dinner, but when we got there it was closed. I don’t know why we weren’t notified. I had provided my contact details. As we were on holiday to Falmouth there will be no opportunity to visit this restaurant again.
‘My daughter gave me a generous gift voucher for my birthday. It was very unfortunate and costly for her and for us.”
McGuire’s pursuit of her husband made him one of the most hated men in the country.
Jennifer Shuskha, who posts on TikTok under the name Jay Megan and calls herself an “internet sleuth,” posted on Monday: “Would you mind taking a look at that? It’s Charles Withers, America’s bastard.
The Amex case against Withers was voluntarily dismissed last month.
The collection agency representing Amex did not respond to requests for comment.
Withers’ family did not respond to requests for comment and figures for Withers himself did not work.
Sheridan’s spokesperson would not say whether the chef is still working properly or even confirm that he ever did.