Richard Montanez Responds to Frito-Lay Calling His Involvement in Inventing Flamin' Hot Cheetos an 'Urban Legend'

Working from home required some creative solutions–something Julianne Moore knows all about.

its story on Frito-Lay’s Flamin’ Hot Cheetos this week, thereby conceding that the Los Angeles Times’ look into the snack’s origins was more accurate. “This episode centers on a claim that Richard Montañez invented a product that came to be known as Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

PepsiCo just released a statement to clarify the controversy brewing about who created Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterPepsiCo issued a lengthy new statement on the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos controversy on Friday, in which the company expressed support for Richard Montañez, the former Frito-Lay executive whose claims to have invented the snack were debunked by the Los Angeles Times.The new statement comes as Eva Longoria is preparing to direct “Flamin’ Hot,” a biopic based on Montañez’s life, which is set to go into production this summer.

published an explosive article digging into the snack's presumed creator, Richard Montañez. In their investigation, Frito-Lay claimed that the former janitor did not create the product.The news came on the heels of Searchlight Pictures and Franklin Entertainment's announcement that they had found their two leads for the upcoming biopic, set to be directed by Eva Longoria.

Los Angeles Times and NPR said he did — and did not — create the snack. “Only now, just as his book is announced, are we suddenly hearing an alternate narrative about the development of this product, which seeks to diminish Richard’s contribution and to question the details of long-ago events,” Zackheim added.

Have a little faith! Anthony Mackie didn’t know what to expect when he heard his Captain America costar Sebastian Stan was taking on the role of Tommy Lee in the upcoming miniseries Pam & Tommy.

The story of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos is getting itself a movie — yes, really — but according to parent company Frito-Lay, what we end up seeing on the screen may not actually be the truth!

It was revealed that Sebastian Stan would be portraying Tommy Lee in Hulu’s upcoming, Pam & Tommy miniseries earlier this year.

exposé in the Los Angeles Times reports Montañez actually had nothing to do with the idea. According to the LA Times, Montañez’s story — that he rose through the ranks at Frito-Lay from janitor to executive after pitching the idea for the spicy snack to PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico and a room of over 100 suits — isn’t true.

Ellise Shafer administratorRichard Montañez is speaking out following claims by Frito-Lay that he did not invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.“I was their greatest ambassador,” Montañez tells Variety of Frito-Lay.

Frito-Lay has refuted the claims that Richard Montanez invented the infamous Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and are calling it an “urban legend”.

Ellise Shafer administratorRichard Montañez has touted his role in inventing Flamin’ Hot Cheetos for over a decade, sharing the story of how he went from a janitor at the Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.