TapouT Accused Of Stealing, Possibly Selling Mask's Ashes

At this point, all we have is a completely unverified claim on a gossip site. Does that really qualify as news? I’ll be at the front of the lynch mob if this turns out to be true, but right now there is absolutely no evidence one way or another.

This reminds me of the old newspaper trick of running a bullshit story on the front page only to have to issue a page six retraction (in fine print) a week later. Everyone reads the first article, no one sees the retraction, and the Tapout guys are forever branded as body-snatching scumbags.

Do you guys REALLY think they would sell Mask’s ashes? It’s probably an act of kindness that they are giving away mask’s ashes to their friends. Dude was inspirational.

There is a good chance this will be the most fucked up thing I read all day, if I avoid world news.

Wouldnt it be funny if Lorenzo and Dana had one of these alleged vials?

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 I was at the service, and don’t really remember a table with 50-100 vials of ashes in them? If anyone else who was there remembers anything else, post it here for sure. A table covered in vials of human remains is definitely something you would notice, too.

I don’t know the situation regarding the family and what not, but hey, perhaps its true that Mask was closer to the Tapout guys than his blood family. Its possible. However, my general feeling is regardless of how true or not that is, popular consensus among MMA fans will be to believe whatever the Tapout guys say, factual or not.

Seems that at least part of this story has now been confirmed. MMA Photographer Tracy Lee chimed in on the UG thread and spilled the beans. Her post was quickly deleted and the thread was frozen, but not before some nimble-fingered folks managed to copy & paste it.

tracylee – To all…

Dan and Skrape are great guys, hands down and it pains me to see that this is going on..

I know of the vials that are being spoken of. As far as I know a total of 3 maybe, 4 exist. They are around the necks of the people that were closest to Charles, engraved with MASK on it. They were NOT mass produced- they were not SOLD at the funeral. Really?? You really think that someone SELLING Mask’s ashes at his funeral full of thousands of family, friends, and Fans would go over in any way shape of form? You think this would be the first time you’re hearing about said vials since his death??

When Rara told me about the TMZ article, my first reaction was, “wait, didn’t Mask dislike his whole family? Have no relationship with his sister?”

If Mask had a will, then I’m sure his money would have been left to his kids, not his sister. She probably became executor of his estate because she is the closest family member “by birth” not close emotionally.

To me, it sounds like she’s really grasping at straws for money here..

To all you really negative fans about this- you should be ashamed of yourselves. Mask may have been the visionary, but he didn’t do it all alone. Skrape, Punkass, and a ton of people that you never see were there from the start, backing fighters and helping to bring the sport to where it is today.

I am assuming the post got deleted because she flat-out confirmed that three or four people did get vials with Mask’s ashes in them, which obviously bodes ill for their chances of escaping this lawsuit unscathed.

All in all, it doesn’t sound as onerous as her lawsuit made it out to be, but it was clearly an illegal act.

TapouT Honchos — Yes, We Distributed Mask’s Ashes
5/12/2011 12:30 AM PDT by TMZ Staff


The two men who run the MMA clothing line TapouT admit they DID distribute a “very small amount” of Charles “Mask” Lewis’ cremated remains to his close friends … and they stand by their actions.
TMZ spoke to the attorney representing Punkass and SkySkrape … who tells us the men feel there is “nothing wrong with dividing up a loved one’s ashes” and giving them to loved ones … despite the fact Mask’s sister claims they had no legal right to do so.

We broke the story, Carla Lewis filed a lawsuit against Punkass and SkySkrape saying they gave away 50 to 100 vials containing Mask’s ashes at a public memorial service in 2009.

Carla — who claims she is the only person with the legal power to control the ashes — alleges the men have kept a significant amount of Mask’s ashes in their possession for years, and have refused to give them back to Mask’s estate.

Now, in light of the lawsuit, P and S have agreed to RETURN the remaining ashes … but they are adamant they have done NOTHING wrong. In fact, the men say Mask was estranged from his sister when he died in 2009 and “his close circle of friends had become his family.”

The men both insist the lawsuit is purely about money — but they’re happy to give the ashes back to the estate so Mask’s two young children can eventually inherit their father’s remains.