Jury selection has begun on the trial of a group of Teamsters who are accused of threatening and harassing "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi while the Bravo show filmed in Boston in 2014.

The men, members of Teamsters Local 25, face federal charges of trying to extort "Top Chef" producers for unnecessary work. They are also accused of intimidating the staff and crew of the Bravo show. Padma said in court documents that she felt "terrified."
The Teamsters were indicted in 2014.
In the indictment, according to the Daily Mail, it said the Teamsters demanded union members be hired as drivers and then threatened and harassed the crew for the show's non-union production company.
Prosecutors claim that one of the men ran up to Padma's car outside of a restaurant and declared, "We're gonna bash that pretty face in…" Prosecutors said that Padma was "terrified" and made the van driver find another way to enter the restaurant.

The defendants also allegedly blocked vehicles and used threats of physical violence in attempts to prevent people from entering the set.
The Daily Mail reported in early July that the local police chief said union members vandalized cars owned by the "Top Chef" crew and even slashed the tires on 14 vehicles.
The report claimed that officials have video footage of an incident they say shows one of the men "walking up to a producer and cracking his knuckles in a menacing manner," while saying, "I don't have to call you a name. You already know what you are."
The Teamsters often called the "Top Chef" cast and crew "scabs." They also reportedly used homophobic and racial slurs.