The guys who approached Castleberry are just typical low lifers. No surprise Brad walked away, as would any intelligent person.
Brad makes money being a personality in the business. How many people asked Piana to prove his muscles were real? And if they did, did he ever respond? Of course not. Why would he have?
For years the bodybuilding industry has misled people into thinking that hard work and protein powder is all that's needed to look like Arnold. The Wieders lied all the way to the bank.
If Castleberry uses fake plates then they must be magical because the guy looks amazing, lol. He is selling a look, and a notion that you too can be big and strong if you buy his products. Hmm. Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah- every single famous bodybuilder or supplement company in the world, haha.
The reason Castleberry gets flak, I think, is because he gets so much more attention than the world class powerlifters who have actually lifted record breaking poundages in competition. Outside a small following, powerlifting is not followed by the general public. The fame that Castleberry is creating for himself outshines almost everyone in the strength business, just like Piana had a bigger following than guys like Heath.
And that is a hard for many to take.