Fortress, thanks for your insight into the matter, why did Bob Kennedy allow his magazine to be owned by MT? it became one big ad for MT, with even zulak selling out/being exploited in his fake q&a
I realize all mags went that direction, with weider pushing his stuff in his mags, MD pushing their company - twinlab, even ironman became a catalogue, but MMI was the one mag everyone knew to stand their ground
MuscleTech doesn't and never did "own" MMI. But I get what you're saying. My guess is Bob was tired of fighting to keep his magazine alive and saw MT as a chance to feed into the growing supplement market that was seeing new millionaires every day. Also, for some reason he seemed to like Gardiner a great deal. Like he viewed him as a golden child or some shit.
MuscleTech was really gaining momentum at MMI headquarters towards the end of my first run at the mag. Paul even used my office computer afterhours to write those initial ads. It was all so sickening. The experience is one of the defining moments of my now-deteriorated view on the bodybuilding media/subculture.
I was asked soon after my firing (because of a misunderstanding that was later cleared up. It's a long story and involves one of the more slimy individuals to have ever crossed my path ... and this is saying a lot, trust me) to write advertorials for MuscleTech. I very emphatically said
NO.
It also wasn't long after I left that Kennedy's son was gravely injured in a car accident and, shortly after
that, that his wife committed suicide. Horrible, horrible thing.
Paul Gardiner now, as I say, is a bigtime ungrateful arsehole who uses his financial clout to manipulate things at MMI to his advantage, seemingly forgetting all that Bob has done for him. It's disgraceful. And what with the editorial now basically run by those ex-Weider knobs, the magazine has become just another faceless "professional" bodybuilding publication.
Kennedy and Johnny Fitness, the
awesome one-time editor-in-chief, are awesome guys, despite Bob's peculiar ways (
), and deserve a lot of recognition for all they've done for bodybuilding. Of course, the "sport" is now going to hell in a handbasket, but ... yeah.
Bob and I have had our differences, but I also know there is a mutual respect there, and I will always consider him a friend. I think he knows that, if he needs something, all he has to do is ask. He has always been a champion of my talents and abilitities. And Mr. Fitness is a true original, as well, who I ALWAYS have time for. One of the most intelligent, funny and honest men I will ever meet.
When it was on top, NOTHING in the print bodybuilding media could touch MuscleMag International. It might not have been as, again, "professional", but it was the best and most original voice in the culture.
The modern supplement industry has all but destroyed what once was. I really believe this with all my heart. In so many ways.
Paul Gardiner and his SHIT products can fuck off to hell.
Hey, Paul! Cut a cheque to Bob, Johnny and Kovacs, right now, asswipe! It's the LEAST you can do. Make them out for millions, you prick.
