John Romano has had much to say in the past few weeks; he’s attacked my character and slanted my reasons for firing him. It’s unfortunate that although he and Dave have supposedly based their new ventures on truth and honesty, these attacks have been anything but. It is important to me that you, our loyal fans, understand that his dismissal did not take place in a vacuum and that there were valid reasons. What follows are only a few...
It was true, as John said, that I called him Bro— and vice-versa. We had a very close and strong relationship during the 18 years he worked for MD. I think most of you are aware that I gave John the opportunity to work for MD when no one else would, after he was released from prison. He saw firsthand the blood and guts and time it took for me to grow MD to the magazine it is today.
John requested and was given the position and title of Senior Editor. I was extremely generous with his compensation; he was the highest paid employee in the company, and probably the highest paid writer in
the industry. Every year I asked John to contribute a list of topics for his monthly feature. Unfortunately I never did receive any list from him and quite often it was on me to come up with his feature assignment. I took John under my wing in good faith, but he never fulfilled the role of Senior Editor, nor lived up to its obligations.
His position basically deteriorated to that of a contributing writer. He frequently submitted articles at or after deadline, and his work required more editing than that of our other writers.
John was supposed to have ‘face’ time in the MD office one week out of every month as well as frequent phone communication. This completely ceased to occur, which made my job that much more laborious and difficult over the years. I was very flexible with his time and schedule, to accommodate the many issues he had in his personal life.
But let me be very clear— I was the one who directed and put the magazine together for 18 years, while acting as Editor-in-Chief for two additional magazines.
I always gave John everything he wanted. I even licensed the rights to the Mexican/Spanish edition of MD. He let that fail while I, in fact, turned away more lucrative offers, in order to give him that opportunity.
John and Dave were building a business on the backs of MD magazine and the website, and using both to promote and market their fledgling business. How do you think they launched their website and radio show so quickly, if not for the fact that they were working on them prior to the firing? If it weren’t for MD, their supplement company would probably not even be in existence today. They were asked to not promote or spam about their supplements on the company’s dime, but they continued to do so. They milked it every which way to their benefit.
Why were they not honest enough to divulge their plans to me? Now we know why… they were undermining our company in order to promote their own supplement line and future businesses. John had attacked and criticized MD employees unjustly. Including the Adman, who performed very well and had record sales year to date. He begged me to allow him to take control of the MD website forums himself, and said to me “Don’t worry Bro, I’ll watch your back,” when in fact he was the one with the agenda! He tried to shift the focus of the website toward his own interests and Dave’s supplement line, of which John is a paid employee, alienating potential new sponsors and advertisers.
Regarding No Bull Radio, hosted by Dave and John, over the last two years the show was not profitable and had a very small audience. It started out as one hour and then Dave and John insisted that it be two hours. We accommodated them even without any paid advertising. If the show had been truly in demand, over the past two year period, the advertisers should have been flocking to sponsor the show. That is why we discontinued No Bull Radio and developed the Team MD show with industry icons, Flex and Shawn, believing it has a much greater likelihood of success in our industry.
I would like to add that we just came off our all-time high for advertising in Muscular Development and the website this past year— solely through the efforts of our great sales team exclusive of John and Dave. Advertisers and sponsorships have increased on the website since John and Dave were fired. Views to our site have gone through the roof since they have been gone— we now have tons more content, breaking news daily, great science-based articles and training videos.
Most importantly, I would just like to say how disappointed I am with John as a person. He has vehemently and unjustly attacked not only me and my staff but also my family in a six-page private e-mail he sent prior to his firing. (This he doesn’t mention.) I do believe he has convinced himself that his reasoning and logic are correct. What I do not agree with is the way he has presented his case in such a public forum. He’s hurt— I get it. It’s cathartic for him— I get it. But he made his bed, so what did he expect?
This is business. Instead of ranting and raving and throwing people under the bus and acting out in such a childish way, why not take all that energy and passion and direct it in a more positive direction? Enough with the tantrums! There is so much better content out there— go find it! Talk about things that are important and will help people in the sport. Do what you do best and I will continue to do what I do best.
In the past I have been instrumental in building Twinlab, a $333- million supplement business; a once-public company with a market cap of $1 billion; before moving on in 2001. I will continue on the path of building a successful publishing and multimedia company.
I do wish you much success, John. I’m glad to have helped you get to where you are today— the rest is up to you. I hope you will always remember what you said, John, “If it wasn’t for Blechman, I’d be living under a bridge right now.”
You're welcome, John!
Steve
