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Closing Arguments In 'Top Chef' Trial

08:26

Asma Khalid
David Boeri

August 10, 2017

In a Thursday, May 14, 2015 file photo, television personality Padma Lakshmi attends the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment 2015 Upfront, in New York. The Teamsters are accused of yelling profanities and racial and homophobic slurs at Lakshmi and the crew of Top Chef while they filmed at Steel & Rye, a restaurant in the Boston suburb of Milton. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Jurors in Boston federal court heard almost three hours of closing arguments today in the extortion trial of four Teamsters accused of threatening the production of the reality TV show "Top Chef," which was filmed throughout Greater Boston in 2014.

Testimony ended earlier this week after lawyers for the four union members did not call any witnesses.

Prosecutors say the teamsters showed up at a "Top Chef" filming in Milton and threatened the cast and crew for not hiring union labor. The teamsters say they were exercising their right to protest a non-union production.

Guest

David Boeri, WBUR senior reporter. He tweets @davidboeri.

This segment aired on August 10, 2017.