A CNN report aired on Tuesday suggested that celebrity chef Nigella Lawson appeared “subservient” and “weak” after photos were published on the Internet of her husband allegedly choking her at a London restaurant.

In a segment on CNN’s New Day morning show, CNN’s Pamela Brown reported that Lawson’s millionaire husband, Charles Saatchi, had denied the photos of him gripping his wife’s throat depicted domestic violence.

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“She’s always portrayed as a very powerful woman, a woman in control,” entertainment reporter Neil Sean explained. “So for her to be so sort of subservient, I think is a rather telling story.”

Saatchi has released a statement saying that “[t]here was no grip. It was a playful tiff.”

Lawson, however, has yet to speak out about the incident. And according to Brown, that makes the glamorous TV cook look “weak” to some unnamed people on “Twitter.”

“People are taking to Twitter saying she needs to come out and address this,” Brown said. “That she’s this powerful figure, and this makes her look weak, according to some people, that she’s not — but this is all a matter of opinion.”

Watch this video from CNN’s New Day , broadcast June 18, 2013.

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(h/t: Media Matters)