Author pleads with fans to 'stop the trolling' over recipe fight

Thursday, 1 May 2025 17:39

RecipeTin Eats' Nagi Maehashi has begged her fans to stop trolling baker Brooke Bellamy, who she has accused of plagiarising two of her recipes.

RecipeTin Eats' Nagi Maehashi has begged her fans to stop trolling Brooki Bakehouse baker Brooke Bellamy, who she has accused of plagiarising two of her recipes.

The influential Sydney-based recipe creator tonight tried to cool her followers down amid a dispute that has made headlines in Australia and overseas.

Bellamy has denied all allegations of copying recipes and begged for privacy.

Nagi Maehashi, creator of RecipeTin Eats, pictured in her kitchen. Image: Nagi Maehashi

"Please stop the trolling," Maehashi said, in a video posted to social media.

"Now, I know I've made serious allegations, but this does not justify the personal attacks that I've seen online against Brooke Bellamy. I do not support it, and I'm asking you to stop.

"I know that this is just a very, very small percentage of people online. I know the majority of people are good fun, normal people.

"You know, share your opinions, have heated debates, support Brooki,support me, disagree with both of us, think we're pathetic.

"Whatever you want, but just keep it respectful. No trolling, no hateful comments."

On Tuesday, Maehashi said she'd made "copyright infringement allegations" against the book's publisher, Penguin Random House Australia, claiming the Bake with Brooki cookbook plagiarised her recipes for baklava and caramel slice, but she had not launched legal proceedings against either the author or publisher.

Australia's cookie queen Brooke Bellamy draws crowds from around the world to her Brisbane bakery

A second popular online baker, US-based Sally McKenny of Sallysbakeblog, later accused Bellamy of plagiarising her recipe for vanilla cake.

Last night, Bellamy issued a statement denying any suggestion she had copied any recipes.

"The past 24 hours have been extremely overwhelming. I have had media outside my home and business, and have been attacked online," she said.

"It has been deeply distressing for my colleagues and my young family.

"I do not copy other people's recipes."

Earlier today, Bellamy was dropped from a partnership with a federal government-funded program to promote entrepreneurship in young girls.

The Academy for Enterprising Girls, an initiative to promote entrepreneurship for students, has since pulled Bellamy from planned "promotional activities" for the organisation.

"Brooke Bellamy was recently engaged to conduct a small number of promotional activities for the Academy for Enterprising Girls program over the coming months" a spokesperson for the program said.

The organisation said the events had not yet taken place.

"While we make no legal assessment on the allegations aired in the media, we have informed Ms Bellamy that we will not move forward with the engagement at this time," the spokesperson said.

Backed by the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, the academy presents career workshops in schools that are designed to help students learn about innovation, design thinking, and tech skills.

In her statement last night, Bellamy said her priority was to ensure the welfare of her family and team at Brooki Bakehouse.

"Like many bakers, I draw inspiration from the classics, but the creations you see at Brooki Bakehouse reflect my own experience, taste, and passion for baking, born of countless hours of my childhood spent in my home kitchen with Mum," she said.

"While baking has leeway for creativity, much of it is a precise science and is necessarily formulaic.

"Many recipes are bound to share common steps and measures: if they don't, they simply don't work."

9news.com.au does not suggest that the allegations are in fact true, rather that they have been made.

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