Will Donald Trump Leave Affliction Entertainment?
by Luke Thomas on Nov 13, 2008 11:29 AM EST
in MMA News
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If he has any sense (and he does) he will:
Denise Zullo, with whom Beard has a daughter, has alleged in court that Beard has struck, intimidated or threatened her and has received court protection from him in the past.
In a December 31, 1997, request for a restraining order, Zullo testified that in the late summer of 1996, Beard punched her in the stomach while she was pregnant. She also testified that on May 13, 1997, she sprayed him with pepper spray to stop what she called “another of his violent, drunken outbursts.”
On Oct. 28 in Bellflower, Calif., Beard withdrew a not guilty plea and instead pleaded no contest to charges of criminal threats, in which Karlos Shaverdian alleged that Beard had threatened to kill him. Judge Charles Q. Clay III found Beard guilty and set sentencing for Jan. 28.
Beard served 30 months in a federal prison from 1993-95 after pleading guilty to three felony counts, of conspiracy, wire fraud and mail fraud. Those felony convictions may end billionaire Donald Trump’s association with Affliction’s MMA promotional company. Trump holds a gaming license in New Jersey and gaming licensees are not permitted to do business with felons.
Emphasis mine.
This is unreal. The Couture lawsuit could spell the end for Affliction's MMA gambit if for no other reason than it makes the whiff of impropriety too pungent to ignore. Transparency is a killer and it's not helping Affliction at all in a moment like this. It's not to suggest Affliction cooks the books or is the Las Vegas yakuza in loud t-shirts. It's that aside from any obstacles that already existed to successfully promoting MMA shows, the skeleton of Todd Beard in Affliction's closet serves as kryptonite to the well-connected, mainstream, powerful and image conscious players they need to push through.
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i was actually thinking yesterday, that (albeit inadvertently), this lawsuit (and the subsequent dirty laundry) could essentially be a way for the couture’s make randy’s matchup with fedor a possibility. can’t get him out of his contract with affliction? why not take the organization down from the inside. of course, this is all hypothetical, and i would never accuse them of that, but it would be interesting if that’s how it plays.
and the story isn’t limited to MMA blogs and sports sites, it’s all over the business world – including Forbes magazine. I’m pretty sure that’s very bad news.
1st rule of business: Don’t punch pregnant women in the stomach.
2nd rule of business: Don’t punch pregnant women in the stomach.
If this is all across the mainstream business media, the few people left that were willing to do business with Affliction probably just got cold feet. It’s over. Stick a fork in ’em.
The worst part of this..
Is that prior to a few days ago I never even heard a peep out of ‘the other guy’ from Affliction. The promotional head of the company and the guy at the forefront was Tom Attencio. He’s been doing what he can to advance the company and in only a few words the other guy, Beard, has nearly destroyed the company, it’s future and their reputation.
He should have stayed quiet.
Game over.
Seriously, I can kind of see how the Couture’s didn’t know what this guy was when they made a deal with him….but Trump? Doesn’t he have legions of people to do research before he invests in something? Let alone something as risky as trying to take on an industry leader with a start up like Affliction is doing with the UFC?
I’ve wondered at Trump’s involvement with all of this to start with. I’m sure if they did do a background check it would of been on Atencio because he was the guy running Affliction MMA but Affliction clothing and Affliction MMA are basically the same company, now that it’s come out that the president of the clothing company is a felon it could definitely kill whatever mystery involvement Trump had with them. I’m sure it also bodes really poorly for the future of Affliction clothing, how many athletes and musicians want to be associated with pregnant women being punched in the stomach and old people being scammed? You can just imagine what Sharon Osbourne is going to think about Ozzy being affiliated with these guys now.
At this point you have to wonder is Affliction clothing a big scam? It looks like that is what Kim Couture is afraid of (well that and the death threats).
There's a circle of Hell reserved for preggo-punchers.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Nov 13, 2008 1:36 PM EST reply actions
Let’s see…
Ripping off and scamming the elderly and punching a pregnant woman in the stomach – seems to me this will be the final nail in the coffin.
I think Satan's looking for a new lover
what with Sadam out of the picture. Then again, I’m not totally current on my South Park.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
In a related story, Tom Attencio reported that there is no deal between Affliction and CBS, regardless of what Tito says.
http://www.fighters.com/11/13/afflictions-attencio-no-cbs-deal
Atencio told Fighters.com Wednesday, "We cannot control what Tito says in the press, nor can we control what he assumes from the fact that we placed two fighters in the last EliteXC show. A lot of people are assuming a lot of things and making up rumors."
Somehow, I believe this to be true.
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