Three former Shark Tank contestants have been hit with a temporary restraining order by Daymond John.
According to the owners of Bubba Q’s Boneless Baby Back Ribs, Al “Bubba” Baker, Sabrina Baker, and their daughter Brittani, John tried to take over the company and cut them out of the earnings.
In response to their alleged efforts “to undermine a business partnership and the legal parameters, they agreed to four years ago,” John, 54, is now considering legal action, according to his publicist Zach Rosenfield.
“After repeated attempts to give the Baker’s the ability to correct their violations. It is unfortunate that it has come to this,” Rosenfield claimed.
“This temporary restraining order is due to the Baker’s blatant actions to undermine a business partnership and the legal parameters they agreed to 4 years ago. Their belief that they can unwind poor business decisions through slanderous social media posts and articles will no longer be tolerated.”
In 2013, the Bakers pitched their precooked boneless baby back ribs to the show. Initially, John offered the Bakers $300,000 for 30% and then revised the offer off air to $100,000 for 35%.
In a recent L.A. Times investigation, the family raised several issues with their business partnership with John and the producer Rastelli Foods Group, with claims that John was trying to take over the company.
The family asserts that Al Baker was excluded from key business meetings and that they got about 4% of the company’s publicly reported $16 million in revenue.
The Bakers additionally shared a number of videos on social media in an effort to provide emails and other documentation to support their claims.
Rastelli has begun asking for a restraining order against the Bakers after a federal judge in New Jersey rejected a lawsuit without prejudice.
John sent the family a cease-and-desist letter after the Times report, which he called a “flawed interview” and a “false narrative” in a TikTok video. The letter demanded they stop “making publicly disparaging or defamatory remarks against Plaintiffs, and further, cease publicly revealing Confidential Information.”
“The journalist, I believe the underlying issue here is, did not understand business as well as I would have liked her to,” John alleged.
