The French would never admit that a foreigner can do French cooking as well or better than themselves - it would just not be done! So look toward motivations of jealously, envy (hate), etc., for the food critics harsh words.
However, it is also possible that the food was so-so and therefore not up to the "hype" of French cooking - hence the bagging comments - but hey, even good French cooking is better than poor and so GR's new places should be Ok.
From the shows, it is evident that GR is passionate about food and cleanliness, so eating in one of his restaurants would not be a health risk - which is more than I can say about "French" restaurants I have seen!
As to the Yanks, since they hype everything for TV its probably a bit of a staged event to bring in the TV audiences ("creative editing"). Also, most of those owners appear to not be true chief's themselves (as in "I did an apprenticeship and spent 10 years learning my trade before setting off on my own"). So most are arrogant, ignorant, greedy and couldn't run a business if there financial lives depended on it - hence the issues and general chaos in those places.
