Rockstar Energy Drink threatens gay blogger with lawsuit over boycott
activism, lgbt Add comments (1)Rockstar, Inc., the company that makes Rockstar Energy Drinks, has threatened to sue the LGBT blog The Bilerco Project for alleged inaccuracies in a post which called for a boycott of the popular product. The CEO of Rockstar, Inc. is Russell Weiner, son of the notoriously anti-gay radio personality Michael “Savage” Weiner. The claimed inaccuracies were that Rockstar Energy Drink was co-founded by Michael Savage and that he continues to reap profits from the company. From Bilerco.com:
Rockstar’s lawyer complained to me that [guest blogger] Michael’s article contained two inaccurate sentences and that the gist of the article was “Michael Savage is a filthy creep and he has deep connections with Rockstar energy drink.” While the attorney made it perfectly clear he agreed Savage was a disgusting pig, it was unfair to the company to link Rockstar with Savage just because Michael Savage’s son, Russell Weiner, is the current CEO of RockStar.
According to Rockstar’s attorney, Savage only advised his son on the drink and not the company. They dispute that Savage directly profits from sales of the energy drink as well.
However an archived version of the Rockstar website seems to suggest otherwise (archive has been blocked and is no longer available):
“I was very fortunate to have been raised by two of the leading herbalists in the world, Dr. and Mrs. MICHAEL WEINER, Ph.D. … From my earliest walking days, I remember exploring the jungles of the South Pacific on expeditions WITH MY PARENTS. … MY FAMILY HAS taken that spirit and experience – their lifetime journey – and DEVELOPED the most complete, most unique, most powerful, and most honest energy beverage ever created: ROCKSTAR.” – CEO RUSSELL GOLDENCLOUD WEINER
Russell Weiner’s mother, Janet Weiner, wife of Michael Savage, happens to be CFO of Rockstar, Inc. And while Michael Savage may not be “directly” reap profits from the company, the household likely does.
The Bilerco Project is not alone in being targeted by Rockstar’s legal team. They have also contacted a number of other websites about the disputed claims and were successful in shutting down a Facebook group with over 12,000 members that had also called for a boycott of the drink.
Since when is it illegal to call for a boycott? Christian anti-gay groups do it all the time.