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One of the co-owners of Los Angeles' trendy eateries, Horses restaurant, has accused her husband of physically abusing her, and killing and harming several more animals, amidst a tumulous divorce battle. According to a report published by The Los Angeles Times, Elizabeth Johnson, who co-runs the eatery with chef Will Aghajanian, requested a restraining order against the latter.
The divorce documents filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court detailed the alleged abuse Johnson and the animals suffered, during her marriage to Aghajanian.
In a November 2022 petition for a provisional Domestic Violence Restraining order, Johnson alleged that Aghajanian killed a kitten in their home as part of a disturbing cycle of abuse against her and their pets.
In a subsequent restraining order request, Aghajanian claimed that he and his dogs were the targets of Johnson's abuse. The accusations made against Will Aghajanian shocked several netizens, with one of them tweeting:
What do we know about the accusations made against Will Aghajanian of Horses restaurant?
According to court documents, Johnson claimed the family cat she brought to a local shelter was severely injured, and the shelter claimed the animal had been abused, an allegation which Will Aghajanian denied.
Moreover, Elizabeth Johnson alleged that Will had tried to feed their cat to coyotes because he did not like it. She also detailed an incident where her former husband was caught "violently shaking the cat" late at night and the domestic pet died the very next day. Johnson said that Will disposed of the dead cat in the trash and "insisted on keeping the corpse in the house.”
Johnson also says that Aghajaninian hurt her physically. She says that he moved her across the floor by her legs in 2019. Johnson has also asked Aghajanian to stay away from their three dogs, Pancho, Javi, and Spud, in restraining order.
In the court documents, Johnson also says that Aghajanian's mental and emotional abuse kept her from seeing what he was doing to the animals. While speaking to the Times, the Horse restaurant's accused co-owner, Will, denied the claims and dubbed them "false allegations."
Remarking on the domestic and animal abuse allegations raised by Johnson, Aghajanian said:
“[I] loved cats, mice. And every other animal under gods/allah whatever each religion calls him/her and have loved all animals since I was a child. I have problems killing lobster, and usually try to do it in the most humane way possible.”
Over the past days, anonymous commenters, industry insiders, and journalists have alluded to allegations about the Horses chef-co-owners' alleged conduct.
Aghajanian also told the Times that he thought Johnson was "trying to take my businesses away from me through divorce" and fabricating stories. He alleged:
“[Johnson] falsely accuses me of things that she has done or that she threatened to do to me and my pets. My pets are like children to me and I love them dearly.”
Horses restaurant's owner was apparently not involved in the eatery's operations
After the story about Horses restaurant's co-owner, Will Aghajanian's alleged abuse of his wife and animals went viral, Twitterati was furious. Several users were left in disbelief that a restaurant, that has been a favorite of A-list celebrities like Jay-Z, Jeff Bezos, and Will Ferrell, has been having a dark story behind it.
Others were suggestively happy that the Horses restaurant is rumored to be closing and regretted knowing what was happening behind the closed doors.
After the accusations went viral, the official Twitter handle of Horses restaurant took to its Instagram handle to share that Will has been "on a leave of absence" since November 2022, and has not been involved in "the day-to-day operations of the restaurant." The statement added that the Horses restaurant has been running under the guidance of Chef Liz.
This is a developing story. As of writing, no other details have been revealed about the case.
