Fans Noticed Alicia Keys Confirmed With Stephen Colbert That Gordon Ramsay Did Not Copyright The Term 'Hell's Kitchen'

Summary

• Trademarked logo for Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen is restricted to food/beverage industry.
• Alicia Keys' musical, also named Hell's Kitchen, was allowed since it targets a different audience.
• Misconceptions around trademarks abound, leading to confusion among fans about naming in media.

If someone said, "I loved watching Hell's Kitchen last night," many would assume that they were talking about Gordon Ramsay's cooking competition series.

After all, the reality TV series has aired over 20 seasons since 2005, when the show first debuted. It seems that there are many hopeful chefs willing to put their careers on the line in order to undergo some tough training and have a chance to become the head chef at one of Gordon Ramsay's signature restaurants.

However, a new Hell's Kitchen has entered the chat. This new jukebox musical, created by Kristoffer Diaz, is the semi-autobiographical telling of Alicia Key’s upbringing in Manhattan in the 1990s.

Fans Have A Lot Of Questions About The Gordon Ramsay Copyright

Trademarks can be tricky things and there is a lot of misinformation out there about whether or not one can trademark Hell’s Kitchen since it is the name of a neighborhood.

Celebrities have made some pretty crazy trademarks over the years, but fans who do a little digging will see that Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen does have a trademark… for its logo.

The stylistic way that Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen is written with a pitchfork design does, in fact, hold a trademark for it to be used in any number of ways. The filing states that it is allowed to be used on coffee cups, mugs, and even plastic bags for the purpose of storing food for household use. It can be used on clothing, like sweatshirts and T-shirts, and has a wide variety of uses in the food and drink industry.

Since Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen brand is more synonymous with a restaurant venue than a form of entertainment, Alicia Keys was allowed to use the name for her show.

While there is certainly entertainment value in watching Hell’s Kitchen with Gordon Ramsay, a copyright office would note that, legally, the two serve a very different purpose. Gordon Ramsay’s trademark is focused on the food and beverage industry, while Alicia Keys’ musical is geared towards a more musical crowd. Therefore, it is unlikely that one would interfere with the other’s audience.

Alicia Keys Opens Up On Her 'Hell's Kitchen' Musical, And It Didn't Cause Tension With Gordon Ramsay

Fans of Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen might forget that it’s also the name of a neighborhood in New York. Formerly known as Clinton, Hell’s Kitchen is located on the West Side of midtown Manhattan in New York City.

• Considering it was where she was born and raised, it seems that the "Girl On Fire" singer felt that it was an appropriate name for a musical about her formative years.
• Alicia Keys appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in June 2024 to talk about her Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen when it opened at the Shubert Theater.

After Alicia Keys praised the “phenomenal” energy in the room, host Stephen Colbert took a moment to congratulate her on thirteen Tony nominations. “Sounds like thirteen is your lucky number because you started working on the show thirteen years ago,” Colbert pointed out.

The two then joked about the way that she celebrated the success of her musical before Colbert asked her about the “iconic guests” who appeared to support her on her opening night. He pulled out a photo of Oprah and Michelle Obama, joking that their appearance was a “good omen” for her success.

“It was spectacular to be able to celebrate in such sisterhood like that,” Keys said. “This was really special.” She praised Oprah for being an incredible mentor to her and revealed that the first show she was ever on was actually The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Alicia Keys Grew Up Walking Past The Future Home Of Her Own Musical

During the interview, Stephen Colbert couldn’t help but point out that she grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, which is not far from where his own studio is located in New York City. He reminded her that she must have walked past those theaters a dozen times growing up without ever knowing that she would one day have her own musical being hosted there.

Keys explained that her mother went to New York City with dreams of becoming an actress, which is where she first got bitten by the theater bug. She explained that she did some school plays. One of her first roles was the starring role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. “A star is born,” Colbert joked.

Colbert also pointed out that most of her musical came from her own music. When asked what it was like to see new interpretations of her own song, Keys joked that she might never be able to perform her own songs again because the new performers just did such a good job adapting her music in a whole new way “to tell the story of Hell’s Kitchen,” which is about a girl who is being raised by a single mother in the heart of New York.

Fans Question The Copyright Use Within Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen

Many fans have had a lot of questions about the way things are done at Hell’s Kitchen over the years. One user took to Reddit to ask why Hell’s Kitchen seems to avoid using brand names. They included a screengrab of one of the contestants sitting next to a bottle with the label stripped off. They are also drinking from a glass that appears to contain soda, but it is unclear what beverage they are drinking.

“They’re allowed to show brand names and labels, but they don’t want to give away free advertising. Also, Pepsi would be pissed off if they bought ads on Hell’s Kitchen, while they’re giving free advertising to Coca-Cola. And Coke might not buy ads if the show is already advertising them for free,” one user explained. “They want to be able to sell ads to Coke and Pepsi, or for one of them to pay up for product placement within the show itself.”

“If Coca-Cola was willing to pay Hell’s Kitchen a certain amount, they’d stock the dorm’s fridges with cans of Coca-Cola and other Coke products and leave the labels on. If not, then a college intern is assigned to take the labels off / cover up the brand names,” they added.

“I remember someone was eating Cheetos in the last season and there was duct tape covering the Cheetos label. I thought it was pretty funny,” another user offered. Another fan of the show said that they heard a rumor that chefs will sing a popular song if they want some time away from the camera because the show doesn’t want to pay the royalty for playing the song.

It seems like a pretty clever way to get out of being filmed, but then again, only the best of the best get an opportunity to work with Gordon Ramsay!