Model, Author and Television Host Padma Lakshmi Signs With CAA Talent Agency
- The Indian American has been nominated for three Emmy Awards this year for Hulu’s “Taste the Nation,” and Bravo’s “Top Chef.”
Padma Lakshmi has signed with talent agency CAA for representation, Deadline announced yesterday. The Indian American model, author and host is nominated for three Emmy Awards this year, including Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program and Outstanding Reality Competition Program for “Top Chef,” and Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special for “Taste The Nation.” She is the creator, host, and executive producer of Hulu’s “Taste the Nation,” and served as host and executive producer on Bravo’s “Top Chef” for 19 seasons. She continues to be represented by Yorn Levine and The Initiative Group.
This June, Lakshmi announced that she will be leaving the popular and highly successful reality show after 17 years and 20 seasons. “Having completed a glorious 20th season as host and executive producer, I am extremely proud to have been part of building such a successful show and of the impact it has had in the worlds of television and food,” the chef, author, model, and television host, wrote on Twitter and Instagram. “After 17 years, many of the cast and crew are like family to me and I will miss working alongside them dearly. I feel it’s time to move on and need to make space for Taste the Nation, my books and other creative pursuits,” she added, referring to her new show on Hulu.
She has been nominated five times for her work as a host and 12 times for her work as a producer for a total of 17 Emmy Award nominations. “Taste the Nation” won a James Beard Award and multiple Critics Choice Real TV Awards, as well as the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series, and a TCA Award nomination.In 2022, she accepted two Critics’ Choice Real TV Awards for Best Culinary Show and Best Competition Series on behalf of “Top Chef,” as well as an award for Best Show Host.
A New York Times best-selling author, she released her memoir “Love, Loss and What We Ate” in 2016, and her first children’s book “Tomatoes for Neela” in 2021. She has also written two cookbooks, and penned articles for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and The New York Times.
She is an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Artist Ambassador for immigrants’ rights and women’s rights, and the co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America. “Her efforts have been recognized on the floor of the New York State Senate, where she succeeded in passing a bill related to expanding education on endometriosis in adolescents in 2014,” Deadline said. She was also honored by Planned Parenthood of Greater New York with its Champion of Change Award in 2023. Lakshmi was also appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations Development Program, and, in 2021, received the Advocate of the Year Award by the United Nations Correspondents Association.