Former Shark Tank Contestants Slammed Daymond John After Their Business Relationship Dramatically Soured

Summary

• Al "Bubba" Baker and daughter Brittani made a deal with Daymond John on Shark Tank, but later regretted it, leading to legal battles and financial ruin.
• The Bakers claimed they received only a small fraction of the revenue their business generated despite being majority owners.
• Daymond John obtained a permanent restraining order against the Bakers, preventing them from disparaging him and his partners online.

Aside from moments like when Kevin O'Leary revealed he isn't giving his fortune to his kids, the sharks mostly keep their personal lives private. Shark Tank focuses on company owners trying to get rich and moments like when Mark Cuban bluntly called some business owners scammers.

However, after Daymond John made a deal with one of Shark Tank's most lovable business owners, that changed. The reason for that is that business owners went on to repeatedly call John out in public.

This article will reveal why one business owner slammed Daymond John after making a deal with him on Shark Tank. Then, the article will look at how John responded to the business owner's harsh criticisms.

Al “Bubba” Baker And Brittani Baker Called Out Daymond John After They Made A Deal On Shark Tank

After Al "Bubba" Baker played in the NFL for more than a decade, he embraced his passion for food. Eventually, that passion resulted in Al Baker appearing on Shark Tank alongside his daughter Brittani Baker.

While pitching to the sharks, Al Baker revealed that he loves eating ribs, but he couldn't enjoy them because his wife hated the mess. As a result, Al Baker came up with Bubba Q Boneless Baby Back Ribs. Al Baker's ribs stood out because they could be cooked in a microwave and eaten with a knife and fork so they weren't messy.

After requesting a valuation of $2 million, Al Baker fielded offers from Kevin O'Leary and Daymond John. Ultimately, Al Baker decided to take an offer from John, which was a decision that was celebrated by Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, and Robert Herjavec. However, based on comments he made later, Al Baker grew to regret making a deal with John.

In May 2023, The Los Angeles Times published an article about Al and Brittani Baker's Shark Tank experience. That article detailed how the Bakers agreed to give up 30% of their company to John in return for a $300,000 investment. Part of the deal also called for John to use his connections to create lucrative licensing deals for the Baker's business.

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Unfortunately for the Bakers, however, they told that outlet that working with John didn't work out as promised. According to the Bakers, they were only getting a small fraction of the money their business made despite being majority owners.

The article reports that the company generated more than $16 million in revenue in the aftermath of The Baker's Shark Tank episode's first airing. Despite that and all the money the company made after that, the family claimed to have only received $659,653, which is just over 4% of the company's publicized revenue.

While speaking about what he and his daughter expected from their Shark Tank experience to The LA Times, Al Baker revealed they had high hopes. “This was going to change our lives.”

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• The Body Jac
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Sadly, Al Baker expressed that the reality of his Shark Tank experience was a far cry from the dream come true he was expecting. In fact, Al Baker claimed his Shark Tank experience was "a nightmare" because of how he and his daughter were treated by John and his partners.

Al Baker also claimed that his Shark Tank deal ruined him financially. According to Al Baker, he had to finance expensive legal battles because of how badly the deal went. To finance those battles, Baker says he cleaned out his family's savings.

After their savings were gone, the Bakers say that they rented out their house to finance their legal battles. When that still wasn't enough, they claim to have sold their home at a loss.

Given the claims that Al Baker and Brittani Baker have made about their Shark Tank experience, it is interesting to see how things started. In December 2013, John and Al Baker were interviewed in tandem by News 5 Cleveland.

During that interview, Al Baker seemed delighted by how well he believed things were going. In fact, it was such a positive discussion that the interviewer predicted that John and Al Baker were going to be a "dynamic duo".

Shark Tank’s Daymond John Was Granted A Permanent Restraining Order Against Al Baker And Brittani Baker

Two months after The Los Angeles Times article quoting The Bakers' complaints about Daymond John was published, the outlet reported about the business partners again. In July 2023, The Los Angeles Times revealed that John got a permanent restraining order against the Bakers.

As a result of the restraining order, the Bakers were barred from further disparaging John and his business partners. The Bakers also had to take down any social media posts in which they disparaged John and his partners. As a part of his court filing, the judge explained why he granted the restraining order.

“All the Bakers’ posts are negative, disparaging, or both and certainly could impact DFV’s and John’s reputation, goodwill, and credibility. These posts clearly caused reputational harm that John will now have to deal with and counter.”

The Los Angeles Times' article also revealed a claim that John made in court about how the Bakers' complaint damaged him.

According to what John testified, he had “a major television network [cancel] a show” involving him that was "previously greenlit". John claimed that the show was canceled due to the Bakers. John also claimed that he missed out on other business opportunities because of the Bakers' disparaging comments.