Lee is being sued. Is this the "epic" news vince?
ww.nydailynews.com/news/national/fmr-mr-olympia-judge-smeared-contest-promote-league-article-1.2643478
A disgruntled ex-judge for the Mr. Olympia competition launched a smear campaign against the famed contest so he can pump up his new bodybuilding league, a new Manhattan federal lawsuit alleges.
Timothy Lee Thompson was a regional chairman with the National Physique Committee (NPC) and also judged the Mr. Olympia contest — which became a household name with Arnold Schwarzenegger's role in the 1977 film “Pumping Iron.”
After a falling out with NPC leadership in September 2015, Thompson announced the start of his own bodybuilding organization, NSL.
To promote NSL, Thompson kicked off a malicious attack campaign against the NPC, soliciting “stories of rigged contests, sexual impropriety, brutal enforcement by those” who wield “a mafia-style control over the entire fitness industry,” the defamation lawsuit against him alleges.
TD Bank retires Penny Arcades after audit reveals inconsistencies
Reached by phone, Thompson denied the allegations.
“This is an attempt to intimidate me and my organization from speaking truth to power,” Thompson said. “And if they serve me with this lawsuit, we will defend it vigorously.”
A representative for Mr. Olympia and American Media, Inc. — which publishes "Muscle & Fitness," "Flex," and "Muscle & Fitness Hers" and is a partner in the competition — said they are suing to do right by Joe Weider, who founded the contest.
“AMI is committed to ‘protecting the Legacy of Joe Weider and his mission’ and making sure that the long standing history of integrity and honor that the sport of bodybuilding was founded on continues," the rep said in a statement.
NYC yoga instructor's lawsuit for being 'too cute' dismissed
“The fans deserve to know that the sport they love has honor, integrity and is truly what Joe Weider started almost 80 years ago.”