‘Shark Tank’ celebrity investor Daymond John has been granted a restraining order against former contestants by a federal court in New Jersey.
A judge ruled on Friday that ex-NFL defensive end Al ‘Bubba’ Baker, his wife Sabrina, and daughter Brittani were banned from speaking online about their ‘nightmare’ dealings with John after their participation in the show in 2014.
After appearing in the show’s fifth season John made an offer on-air to invest $300,000 for a 30 percent stake in their boneless ribs business, Bubba’s Q. That deal was later revised to $100,000 for 35 percent after the show.
Sour relations between the Bakers and John became public after a story was published in the LA Times in which they claimed the investor and his partners tried to take over their business and eventually stopped promoting their product.
Former pro-football player Al ‘Bubba’ Baker (left) and his daughter Brittani Bo Baker have been banned by a federal judge from speaking about investor Daymond John (center) online
Al ‘Bubba’ Baker, his wife Sabrina, and daughter Brittani are pictured in front of a Bubba’s Q food truck
Then in various posts to social media they criticized both John and his partners.
The judge’s decision on Friday makes a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order issued last month permanent.
It requires the Bakers to take down existing statements and bans them from making further remarks about both John and Rastelli Foods Group, a meat manufacturer retained to produce the Bakers’ patented Bubba’s Q Boneless Baby Back Ribs.
Rastelli Foods Group alleged the Bakers had made false and defamatory statements against it. John had established an entity called DF Ventures to do business with the Bakers’ ribs company.
‘All the Bakers’ posts are negative, disparaging, or both and certainly could impact DFV’s and John’s reputation, goodwill, and credibility,’ Judge Robert Kugler wrote in his order.
‘These posts clearly caused reputational harm that John will now have to deal with and counter.’
The judge suggested in his ruling that the family had not been pursuing a remedy but were instead taking out frustrations publicly.
He wrote that the court could ‘only draw one logical conclusion: the Bakers are not doing this to try to improve the business or to further some other legitimate purpose.
‘Instead, the Bakers’ enmity, antipathy, and animosity toward John, DFV, and the Rastllis overcame their financial self-interest and their ability to reasonably work through their issues with John, DFV, and the Rastellis.’
In a statement to social media on Saturday, John celebrated the judge’s order and described it as a ‘moment of vindication’
Bubba Baker and his daughter are seen pitching the De-Boned Baby Back Rib Steak to the Sharks in 2014
After appearing in the show’s fifth season in 2014 John made an offer on-air to invest $300,000 for a 30 percent stake in their boneless ribs business. That was later revised to $100,000 for 35 percent
Bubba Baker said he had once considered Daymond John (pictured in 2022) ‘family’
Bubba Baker had been running a family barbecue restaurant in Ohio when in 2013 he was urged by his daughter to appear on ABC’s Shark Tank to get some investment in his boneless baby back ribs side business, the family told the Times.
Bubba told the Times he was disappointed his relationship with John had gone downhill so fast and that he once considered him ‘family’. The paper reported that hard times had forced him to close his restaurant and sell his truck.
‘I was super proud of my relationship,’ he said. ‘I just never expected economic marginalism from another African American.’
In his own statement to social media on Saturday, John celebrated the judge’s order and described it as a ‘moment of vindication’.
‘The actual facts, the record, and the federal judge’s opinion have confirmed my innocence, proving that I did not and could not have committed any wrongdoing,’ he wrote.
‘I take a lot of pride in reputation as someone who supports entrepreneurs and I will not have this stop me from continuing to empower and educate entrepreneurs around the globe,’ he added.
