Shark Tank was a TV show I enjoyed Watching years ago seeing Innovative or Sometimes just plain wacky business Ideas being presented and then having The business Moguls like Mark Cuban and Other millionaires reject the idea or if They like it try and buy into the idea Was an interesting topic unfortunately Over the years more and more shady Information has come out about the show And how it actually operates and it no Longer is something I can enjoy many bad Deals have gone down and many people who Were on the show feel they were scammed By Shark Tank you can find a lot of These stories online but over the past Month or so one of the biggest scandals The show has ever seen has started to be Exposed the baker family who ran the Company known as bubbaq boneless baby Back ribs were on Shark Tank during Season five of the show and ultimately Made a deal with shark Damon John that Led to their company making over 16 Million in sales in a few short years Sadly this turned into a nightmare for The Bakers who claimed Damon and his Team scammed them out of all of the Profits leaving them with only six Hundred fifty thousand dollars to their Name and not the millions their product Actually generated bubbaq which was Created by former NFL player Al Baker Was a unique product that the Sharks
Felt had real potential Bubba had Created the first boneless baby back Ribs and had patented the deboning Process so that no other company could Copy his method of deboning baby back Ribs unlike pressed pork products made To look like a stack of ribs like the Infamous McRib this was a full stack of Deboned real ribs that could Revolutionize the industry shark Damon Felt that the best way to Market this Was to get Bubba to stop selling their Own boneless ribs and instead license Their patented boneless technology to The meat packing industry his deal for Giving them three hundred thousand Dollars and getting thirty percent of Their company required they find a Licensing deal for their boneless Technology now what many people don't Know is that the deals shown on the show Are just basically handshake deals and They are not binding contracts over a Third of the deals that take place on The show actually fall apart after the Camera stopped rolling and many more Deals are altered as well the baker Family had their deal altered by shark Damon after the cameras turned off and Ended up with a deal of just a hundred Thousand dollars for 35 percent of their Company Damon claimed this was because The Bakers refused to license their Technology and wanted to sell all their
Own prepackaged Meats however the Bakers Deny this claim and this was only the Start of their headaches dealing with The Shark Tank star shortly after their Deal with Damon before their episode had Aired on TV the shark told them they Needed to get a new website set up to Cash in on the massive influx of sales That would happen whenever a product was Featured on Shark Tank Damon got them in Touch with Nate holzeville who was a Former contestant on the tank that had Made a deal with Damian a year before Since appearing on the show Nate had Become close friends with Damon and was Put in charge of the other company's Websites and managed their e-commerce Operations Nate was also put in charge Of the baker's business account which is Something they were uncomfortable with But agreed to at Damon's request According to the Bakers their Relationship with Nate quickly Deteriorated on the day their episode Aired on Shark Tank the new website nade Build received over 250 000 in sales in Just a few days which was twice what They had made the year before sadly this Joyous occasion turned to heartache as They found out Nate had forgotten to add A sales tax collection to the orders They received on the website and this Forced The Bakers to have to issue Refunds to a large portion of their
Initial customers after continued issues With Nate The Bakers no longer wanted to Work with him and tried to get Damon to Remove him from running their company Damon initially told them to keep Working with Nate but eventually allowed Them to cut ties with him the baker's Business bank account which was run by Nate had hundreds of thousands of Dollars in it which Nate took all of Giving only eight thousand dollars to The Bakers The Bakers who were Furious Went to Damon and asked him why this Happened to which he said that Nate Deserved the money according to the Bakers when asked about this by the Los Angeles Times Damon claims he doesn't Remember what he said as that was 10 Years ago while Damon initially praised Nate and worked with him on various Shark Tank deals all of that ended a few Years ago when the many criminal Activities Nate was a part of came to Light as of 2023 Nate is currently out On bail awaiting trial in the state of Utah where he faces 15 felony charges Ranging from Communications fraud theft And abuse against women according to the Allegations Nate who was married at the Time would meet women on Tinder seduce Them and convince them to sign over Their homes to his business which he Would then sell and keep all the profits While Nate hasn't been convicted of any
Of these crimes yet it was enough for Damon to cut ties with him and they no Longer have any business relationship Now while it may be easy to say all the Baker's problems are just because of Nate that wouldn't be true because even After Nate left the picture their Relationship with Damon continued to Sour The Bakers eventually found a Company called restilly Food Group which Is going to produce all the Boneless Risk tips and give the Bakers a Licensing cut of 45 percent of all the Net profits when the Bakers told Damon About this deal he was not pleased and Sent them a disapproving email which was Obtained by the LA Times Damon said I'm Beginning to understand how much you do Not understand what working with shark Tank is doing for you and your business He wrote in May 2015. you are part of The Shark Tank family you and anybody That you have put on camera is now my Personal responsibility I have to report Back everything I can to keep Shark Tank Producers and ABC up to date he added You will no longer be of interest to the Show to promote because there is another Season about to be shot and every shark Has their top five Bubbas of the world They are trying to keep promoting John Said it was important for him to meet With rastellis to see if it felt that They were a fit for the business before
Doing anything including putting them on An update of the show The Baker's not Wanting to rock the boat allowed Damon To renegotiate the deal with the Restilles which then created a new Company fof Baker's LLC Baker was the Managing partner with the 45 stake and 100 ownership of the patents rastily got 35 percent and Damon John got 20 percent According to the Bakers the deal Initially worked well for the baker Family and they began to receive 25 000 Checks frequently as part of their Licensing deal the ribs were even Featured on the QVC Home Shopping Network and sold out multiple times with Sales continuing to grow The Bakers Received projections from Damon's team That they estimated that the company Would soon be generating 74 000 in profit a month despite things Looking good just a few months into the Partnership payments to the Bakers began To dwindle to just pennies Baker Contacted Damon's team multiple times to Find out why payments had stopped with One email he shared stating I have some Financial concerns and a 14-month period Of no profits in the form of Disbursements make this something that Needs to be discussed in person According to the Bakers Damon's team Kept telling him it wasn't a big deal And things would soon start to turn
Around in April of 2017 Damon was able To secure a deal with Carl's Jr on Hardee's to feature the baker's boneless Ribs on a new sandwich the baby back rib Burger which was featured in over 3 000 Restaurants around the country for a Limited time here we are Carl's Jr at Hardee's and right in front of us sits One right in front of us you know and After a while you know we got the word Out and called Junior and Hardees who uh Who said you know what we make uh some Of those amazing burgers in the world so It's actually a rib on top of a baby It's meat on me it's meat on me it is a Boneless baby back rib on top of a Burger that's a real rib I mean that's This is a real rib this is not the Processed stuff that you may see from Other places where they you know they Put a bunch of cook on a like a waffle To shape like a rib that deal totaled 5.8 million dollars and the Bakers Thought for sure this was finally where Their luck would turn around sadly that Was not the case and after all the Revenue came in the Bakers only made Three thousand dollars in net profit at That point the Bakers weren't interested In pursuing any other large contracts Until the accounting issues were fixed And refused to continue to work with Damon and the restilly group which led To them being sued by the rastilis in
2019 with Damon's team joining the Lawsuit against the Bakers as well that Lawsuit eventually ended in arbitration And they Acres were awarded a payment of A hundred thousand dollars unfortunately For the Bakers things have not improved And their product which is still Manufactured by the restilly group now Makes them almost no money at all Al Baker was forced to sell his home at a Loss and his truck was repossessed after The accumulated over a hundred seventy Thousand dollars in lawyer fees the Baker's unhappy with how things turned Out began publicly speaking out against Both the rastily group and Damon John a Few months ago regularly posting to Social media platforms to tell their Story about how they feel they were Conned by Damon John did you see my dad And I on Shark Tank pitching our Patented boneless ribs well Unfortunately our experience has turned Out to be a nightmare since partnering With Damon John and rastelli foods you Can read all about our experience in a New article written by an award-winning Investigative journalist with the LA Times and unfortunately we weren't the Only small business affected by Damon John and rastelli Foods I'll be sharing More to help encourage other small Businesses to speak up against corporate Injustices after these clips began to
Surface and the LA Times released an Article about the situation Damon's Reputation began to take a hit unwilling To see his image tarnished Damon filed a Restraining order against the baker Family that prevents them from speaking Further about Damon until a court Hearing can be heard about the situation Damon then released a video on his Social media accounts calling the Allegations against him false and then He was the one that was the victim in This whole situation so I'm making this Video to address this LA Times article That Al Bubba Baker and Brittany Baker Intentionally broke the confidentiality And put out and shopped to this reporter And at best it's not true and that's me Being kind now the reason I'm doing this Is because I want you to always stand up With yourself no matter what position You get in life just like I am don't sit Back and think oh the truth is going to Set us free because I have the truth but I'm under confidentiality and I can't Put the truth out there in detail but Public opinion also could potentially Affect your family your loved ones the People that have worked on this project And invested in it when your family's Out there and because of public opinion These people now after the LA Times Article is out they're online damn They're harassing me at this point and
Putting up a lot of falsities and I will Not stand for that I'm always going to Stand up for myself it's unfortunate to See the Bakers who went on Shark Tank to Help fulfill their American Dream now in Massive debt after having to legally Fight Damon and the restilly group Multiple times Damon's past action of Hiring a former contestant to run the Beggars online store who is now facing Decades in jail for his crimes as well As several other shark tank contestants Who have also come out to say they were Treated poorly by Damon and his team Leave him in a very bad Light My Hope Is That the Bakers can someday turn this Company around and make this a Profitable business after they are able To cut ties with Damon and move past Their current legal fight with him with That being said let me know below what You believe is the true story where they Maker screwed over by Damon and his team Or do you feel the Bakers are the ones In the wrong let me know what you think In the comments below