‘Top Chef’ Extortion Trial Facts: Host Padma Lakshmi Testifies

"Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi testified Monday for the first time in the extortion case against four alleged union enforcers who she said, left her "petrified" in 2014. Lakshmi had gone to Boston, Massachusetts, for the show's filming when Boston union workers "threatened" the star during a Teamsters rally.

Lakshmi claimed in court that when she was entering the restaurant Steel & Rye in Milton, Massachusetts, to film an episode of the upcoming 12th season of Bravo's popular show, in a minivan driven by her assistant, a group of protestors approached her. They were from Teamsters Local 25, Boston Herald reported.

As her van slowed to avoid hitting the angry protestors who were shouting over not being hired as drivers by the show's production company, a man approached Lakshmi's van. He allegedly started making derogatory comments at Lakshmi, the report said.

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"He kinda said, 'Oh looky here, what a pretty face. What a shame about that pretty face'...I felt he was bullying me. I thought he might hit me. I felt threatened," Lakshmi testified.

Adam Liberatore‏, chief photographer at Boston 25 News, tweeted a video of Lakshmi entering the court.

The events took place three years ago and the federal court proceedings began July 31 with a selection of 12 jurors. The proceedings are expected to last for two weeks, reports said.

Here are some of the facts about the extortion case.

1. Four members of Teamsters Union Local 25 in New England have been charged with attempting to extort a non-union production company that was making the hit reality TV show in June 2014. They have pleaded not guilty, ABC News reported.

2. Prosecutors claim the Teamsters — Robert Cafarelli, John Fidler, Daniel Redmond and Michael Ross — harassed and "chest-bumped" crew members.

Fidler told ABC News in an exclusive interview before the start of the trial that he was one of the picketers at the restaurant on the day when Lakshmi's vehicle was attacked. However, Fidler said he believes that he and the other defendants are being treated unfairly and that he had neither engaged in any violent act nor used violent language towards the production company.

3. Federal prosecutors asked the local police on Aug. 4 why they did not make any arrests at the time of the incident when the Teamsters allegedly harassed the “Top Chef” team, Deadline reported. Lakshmi and her staff were also allegedly attacked with racist comments by Teamsters.

Ian Buchanan, a production assistant on the show, testified Friday that he got bumped from behind.

Morgan Graham, the show's travel coordinator and a driver of one of the "Top Chef" vans, testified Monday that protesters had slashed tires of vehicles of the show, according to the New York Daily News.

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4. Lakshmi did not identify Fidler in court.

5. The court proceedings are unlikely to have affected the show's future, the Washington Post reported.