Max Azria of BCBG sued over Playboy condom deal gone wrong
April 23rd, 2012 by faye
BCBG chairman Max Azria is being sued by some guy for $20 million due to a Playboy condom deal gone wrong.
According to reports, Max Azria has been accused by Jimmy Esebag of being a “narcissistic braggart” a liar and a cheat in the lawsuit. Azria apparently made a deal with Esebag, who had deep ties with Playboy, to market Playboy condoms.
Jimmy Esebag claims in his lawsuit that Max Azria blatantly lied to him by saying he could “move any mountain he wanted to make the venture work.” The Playboy condom deal lawsuit claims Azria said, “I have a relationship with everybody. I am Max Azria. People are happy to have lunch with me. Anybody in America. Even the President of America … I can sell anything to everybody.”
The lawsuit claims that Max Azria couldn’t deliver his promise to get the Playboy condoms on Walmart shelves, partly because some BCBG’s clothing lines allegedly contained dangerous levels of lead – so the suit claims Walmart did not want to do business with Azria.
Jimmy Esebag also claims that Max Azria misrepresented BCBG’s financial health by failing to disclose 42 tax liens, plus a junk credit rating and more than 100 lawsuits.
The Playboy condom deal lawsuit, filed by attorney Bryan Freedman, alleges various forms of fraud. The suit also contains statements purportedly made by Max Azria. Some of which are, “I am the owner of this company. Only God and me. We have to talk,” as well as “I want to tell you $2,000 is the tip that I give to restaurants…” and “The money is nothing. If he need a million dollars, I give him a million dollars.”
Jimmy Esebag wants $220 million from Max Azria, what he claims he could have made if the BCBG chairman was honest with him.
The company released their own statement about the claims made by Jimmy Esebag in his Playboy condom deal lawsuit: “The unrelated mention of BCBG’s clothing lines allegedly containing dangerous levels of lead is completely inaccurate,” a spokesperson for BCBG wrote.
The spokesperson also added that “Mr. Esebag has been sued for fraud by other business partners in relation to Playboy condom deals,” and that “Max was victorious in a prior arbitration relating to this matter, and we are confident he will also be victorious in the present lawsuit.”