Where is Marc Johnson?

[Coldpizza]

I really didn’t want to do this, for a variety of reasons, but the truth hurts and it’s embarrassing I even have to post this.

MJ ripped me off for $800. I bought a piece of his art and 3 boards from him and he flat out stole the money from me and bounced. Completely ghosted. He made sure I sent the money ‘Friends and Family’ so I had no recourse but never did I think he’d screw me over even tho I was seeing more and more social media comments from those he had screws over. He communicated with me for a few weeks but as someone else. As in, I knew it was him writing but he would write things like “Marc values your loyalty”, and “Marc really wants you to have this stuff as soon as possible” and “Marc appreciates your patience he’s going to really hook you up for being so cool”. It was odd and creepy but whatever, I just wanted it to be over. Weeks became months and I simply wanted what I paid for.

$800 might not be a lot of money for some but it is to me and it was insanely stupid on my part. That said, I’m an adult and no one twisted my arm or forced me to purchase anything from Marc. It was impulsive on my part. I chose to bc I wanted to support. “Support”. I’ve always tried to support on the projects he’s been involved with down the years. I even still have a few of his Matix pieces. However, I’ve felt extremely foolish and REALLY dumb every single day since.

I assumed he was having financial hardship so it got to the point I offered him to keep $400 and send me back $400, of my own money, and just sell the stuff to someone else. A free $400 no questions asked. I just wanted something back if he didn’t intend to send me what I paid for.

MJ fucking sucks. The guy stole $800 of my money and ghosted me. I no longer give a rats ass what he’s done on a skateboard he’s a shitty and disingenuous person at his core. I do repeat, I fully own it, Im a big boy and I got beat. I just shouldn’t have been so foolish with my money. It’s that old fable about the girl picking up the snake and it bites her, the snake saying “you knew I was a snake”.

I don’t care what someone is dealing with. Just be honest.

Damn what a fucking bummer. Sorry to hear that man, unfortunately that sounds like typical addict behavior. Fuck it, DM me your address and I’ll send you something! It won’t be worth 800 but it’ll be some gear! Ha

[Cool Ceith]

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A couple questions about the whole Lakai/Adidas thing:

1. A big missing detail is how long Carroll wanted him to hold off for. If they had that much product wouldn't it take months? Is there a chance that Adidas didn't really provide MJ a grace period?
2. Are there examples of other pros that held off wearing or talking about a new sponsor for an extended period of time? Just wondering what "normal" would be.
3. Is there a chance that Adidas didn't really give him a choice about the announcement and he was just stuck in a shitty position where he couldn't win?

Not completely execusing MJ I just don't know what the normal situation is for both parties and if there was something on the Crail end that made the ask more ridiculous than MC let's on or more ridiculous on the Adidas end that forced MJ's hand?

Like someone else posted cutting pay, even if he got less of a cut, still sucks and after multiple cuts the writing is on a wall. When I left a job my old boss wanted me to stay on a month to help transition a project I was on just because it would make his life easier not needing to manage a few people they had hired in my division that I was managing. It wasn't a bunch of shoes, but the relationship wasn't far off. This is the same dude that passed up giving me a promotion he had promised and a simple cost of living adjustment raise twice.  They did lay off others in that time but why should I accept less for the same job?

[close]

1. i'd imagine adidas thought announcing MJ in the video would be a selling point. and you're right, we have no idea how long MJ was supposed to float or if mike carroll was even in a position where he should be ordering and selling that much product with MJ's name on it if he knew MJ was not long for lakai if conversations between the two about leaving lakai started early enough, which we don't know, because all he said was "over a month" but then said "i expected MJ to stay on through the summer" which doesn't really seem like long enough to sell through their existing stock. PLUS he said alex olson basically did the same thing when he quit and they seem to be fine...
2. this happens a lot with board brands, right? ex: dustin henry made sure alltimers sold out of his boards before he quit for frog a year or two back
3. i'd be shocked if this wasn't the case and i also feel there's a (very) distant possibility he didn't even know he'd end up in the video. it's not like he was on filming trips or anything, they're just two mid clips on a bank in a "skit" that's better suited for instagram than a full length

edit: after rereading this interview, i gotta say ian at jenkem is the real villain for being too dumb to ask the most basic follow-up questions and just acting as mike carroll's direct mouthpiece

;DI've always thought this. He's had some amazing opportunities with exclusives over the years and just kind of drops the ball.

[Madam, I'm Adam]

I really didn’t want to do this, for a variety of reasons, but the truth hurts and it’s embarrassing I even have to post this.

MJ ripped me off for $800. I bought a piece of his art and 3 boards from him and he flat out stole the money from me and bounced. Completely ghosted. He made sure I sent the money ‘Friends and Family’ so I had no recourse but never did I think he’d screw me over even tho I was seeing more and more social media comments from those he had screws over. He communicated with me for a few weeks but as someone else. As in, I knew it was him writing but he would write things like “Marc values your loyalty”, and “Marc really wants you to have this stuff as soon as possible” and “Marc appreciates your patience he’s going to really hook you up for being so cool”. It was odd and creepy but whatever, I just wanted it to be over. Weeks became months and I simply wanted what I paid for.

$800 might not be a lot of money for some but it is to me and it was insanely stupid on my part. That said, I’m an adult and no one twisted my arm or forced me to purchase anything from Marc. It was impulsive on my part. I chose to bc I wanted to support. “Support”. I’ve always tried to support on the projects he’s been involved with down the years. I even still have a few of his Matix pieces. However, I’ve felt extremely foolish and REALLY dumb every single day since.

I assumed he was having financial hardship so it got to the point I offered him to keep $400 and send me back $400, of my own money, and just sell the stuff to someone else. A free $400 no questions asked. I just wanted something back if he didn’t intend to send me what I paid for.

MJ fucking sucks. The guy stole $800 of my money and ghosted me. I no longer give a rats ass what he’s done on a skateboard he’s a shitty and disingenuous person at his core. I do repeat, I fully own it, Im a big boy and I got beat. I just shouldn’t have been so foolish with my money. It’s that old fable about the girl picking up the snake and it bites her, the snake saying “you knew I was a snake”.

I don’t care what someone is dealing with. Just be honest.

Other posters here also got ripped off by MJ. Remember reading the posts from @Underpressureflips and I believe others.

Reminds me of Pappalardo trying to rip off some board collectors from way back.

It sucks, these heroes of ours turning out this way. 

[chany penguin]

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I really didn’t want to do this, for a variety of reasons, but the truth hurts and it’s embarrassing I even have to post this.

MJ ripped me off for $800. I bought a piece of his art and 3 boards from him and he flat out stole the money from me and bounced. Completely ghosted. He made sure I sent the money ‘Friends and Family’ so I had no recourse but never did I think he’d screw me over even tho I was seeing more and more social media comments from those he had screws over. He communicated with me for a few weeks but as someone else. As in, I knew it was him writing but he would write things like “Marc values your loyalty”, and “Marc really wants you to have this stuff as soon as possible” and “Marc appreciates your patience he’s going to really hook you up for being so cool”. It was odd and creepy but whatever, I just wanted it to be over. Weeks became months and I simply wanted what I paid for.

$800 might not be a lot of money for some but it is to me and it was insanely stupid on my part. That said, I’m an adult and no one twisted my arm or forced me to purchase anything from Marc. It was impulsive on my part. I chose to bc I wanted to support. “Support”. I’ve always tried to support on the projects he’s been involved with down the years. I even still have a few of his Matix pieces. However, I’ve felt extremely foolish and REALLY dumb every single day since.

I assumed he was having financial hardship so it got to the point I offered him to keep $400 and send me back $400, of my own money, and just sell the stuff to someone else. A free $400 no questions asked. I just wanted something back if he didn’t intend to send me what I paid for.

MJ fucking sucks. The guy stole $800 of my money and ghosted me. I no longer give a rats ass what he’s done on a skateboard he’s a shitty and disingenuous person at his core. I do repeat, I fully own it, Im a big boy and I got beat. I just shouldn’t have been so foolish with my money. It’s that old fable about the girl picking up the snake and it bites her, the snake saying “you knew I was a snake”.

I don’t care what someone is dealing with. Just be honest.

[close]

Other posters here also got ripped off by MJ. Remember reading the posts from @Underpressureflips and I believe others.

Reminds me of Pappalardo trying to rip off some board collectors from way back.

It sucks, these heroes of ours turning out this way.

i never heard hard numbers before but it sounded like a lot of people on here didn't get their decks or shirts from mj. i just chalked it up to depression or failure somehow on his end but it sounds like he might have hit some serious licks and perhaps it was more fraud than simply being overwhelmed or whatever. i have optimism bias and want to think mj meant to get the goods to the guys. maybe he's like mac from tortilla flats and on the way to mail stuff he spies his paisanos drinking a jug and goes off with them, leaving the box on a bus bench. tomorrow does the same thing.

[BeachChicken]

thanks for the detailed answers people, interesting to get some perspective. I've always thought it's a bit weird that Crail seems to make most riders get a package deal on their brands and from potentially making better money on other brands. I wonder how long Carroll knew Marc was likely to leave before they had the shoes made.

Also do skate shoe contracts have image rights? If so, would it have been possible that Marc gave Adidas some stuff beforehand and didn't know they would sent for the video or that they owned the rights and just felt like advertising their new rider?

Saw Marc skating tons of times growing up and he was probably the most consistent skater I've ever seen to this day and was extremely nice. Sucks he went down that path. I just rewatched his FF part and it would hold up more than 95% of todays parts.

[Calleri]

I really didn’t want to do this, for a variety of reasons, but the truth hurts and it’s embarrassing I even have to post this.

MJ ripped me off for $800. I bought a piece of his art and 3 boards from him and he flat out stole the money from me and bounced. Completely ghosted. He made sure I sent the money ‘Friends and Family’ so I had no recourse but never did I think he’d screw me over even tho I was seeing more and more social media comments from those he had screws over. He communicated with me for a few weeks but as someone else. As in, I knew it was him writing but he would write things like “Marc values your loyalty”, and “Marc really wants you to have this stuff as soon as possible” and “Marc appreciates your patience he’s going to really hook you up for being so cool”. It was odd and creepy but whatever, I just wanted it to be over. Weeks became months and I simply wanted what I paid for.

$800 might not be a lot of money for some but it is to me and it was insanely stupid on my part. That said, I’m an adult and no one twisted my arm or forced me to purchase anything from Marc. It was impulsive on my part. I chose to bc I wanted to support. “Support”. I’ve always tried to support on the projects he’s been involved with down the years. I even still have a few of his Matix pieces. However, I’ve felt extremely foolish and REALLY dumb every single day since.

I assumed he was having financial hardship so it got to the point I offered him to keep $400 and send me back $400, of my own money, and just sell the stuff to someone else. A free $400 no questions asked. I just wanted something back if he didn’t intend to send me what I paid for.

MJ fucking sucks. The guy stole $800 of my money and ghosted me. I no longer give a rats ass what he’s done on a skateboard he’s a shitty and disingenuous person at his core. I do repeat, I fully own it, Im a big boy and I got beat. I just shouldn’t have been so foolish with my money. It’s that old fable about the girl picking up the snake and it bites her, the snake saying “you knew I was a snake”.

I don’t care what someone is dealing with. Just be honest.

So sorry for you man, don’t be so harsh on yourself tho, lack of money can make people do crazy shit…

[Atiba Applebum]

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A couple questions about the whole Lakai/Adidas thing:

1. A big missing detail is how long Carroll wanted him to hold off for. If they had that much product wouldn't it take months? Is there a chance that Adidas didn't really provide MJ a grace period?
2. Are there examples of other pros that held off wearing or talking about a new sponsor for an extended period of time? Just wondering what "normal" would be.
3. Is there a chance that Adidas didn't really give him a choice about the announcement and he was just stuck in a shitty position where he couldn't win?

Not completely execusing MJ I just don't know what the normal situation is for both parties and if there was something on the Crail end that made the ask more ridiculous than MC let's on or more ridiculous on the Adidas end that forced MJ's hand?

Like someone else posted cutting pay, even if he got less of a cut, still sucks and after multiple cuts the writing is on a wall. When I left a job my old boss wanted me to stay on a month to help transition a project I was on just because it would make his life easier not needing to manage a few people they had hired in my division that I was managing. It wasn't a bunch of shoes, but the relationship wasn't far off. This is the same dude that passed up giving me a promotion he had promised and a simple cost of living adjustment raise twice.  They did lay off others in that time but why should I accept less for the same job?

[close]

1. i'd imagine adidas thought announcing MJ in the video would be a selling point. and you're right, we have no idea how long MJ was supposed to float or if mike carroll was even in a position where he should be ordering and selling that much product with MJ's name on it if he knew MJ was not long for lakai if conversations between the two about leaving lakai started early enough, which we don't know, because all he said was "over a month" but then said "i expected MJ to stay on through the summer" which doesn't really seem like long enough to sell through their existing stock. PLUS he said alex olson basically did the same thing when he quit and they seem to be fine...
2. this happens a lot with board brands, right? ex: dustin henry made sure alltimers sold out of his boards before he quit for frog a year or two back
3. i'd be shocked if this wasn't the case and i also feel there's a (very) distant possibility he didn't even know he'd end up in the video. it's not like he was on filming trips or anything, they're just two mid clips on a bank in a "skit" that's better suited for instagram than a full length

edit: after rereading this interview, i gotta say ian at jenkem is the real villain for being too dumb to ask the most basic follow-up questions and just acting as mike carroll's direct mouthpiece

[close]

;DI've always thought this. He's had some amazing opportunities with exclusives over the years and just kind of drops the ball.

That’s probably why he gets those exclusives.   Skateboarders inherently hate accountability and mags would lose their access if they ever even remotely attempted to not kiss everyone’s ass

[Mean salto]

I don’t think some of you know how long it takes to make shoes. Shoe companies make orders many seasons in advance, usually into the next calendar year. So, yes, Carroll had every right to ask MJ to wait until product that was made - and already spoken for as shops don’t order shoes they’re selling the week they get to the shop - was sold.

Hard to know exact timings of things or how exactly they went down but there were ads for a new Carroll DC shoe like a month before they announced lakai. Not saying that makes it right but it does make it a bit harder to be sympathetic

[oyolar]

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Back then he said that one of the reaons he moved to Adidas was that they would give more room for his creativity and that he was about to do lots of projects and clips with Adidas. So allow me to share all these projects and clips again:

[close]

This.

Everyone is really fucking flip-flopping, acting like MJ is the saint in this and misremembering the Carroll Jenkem interview so I assume most have never read the thing.

Carroll mentions in the interview that they routinely protected MJ's pay even when others were getting pay cuts. Then, they had to cut his pay a few times and he had a few conversations with MJ where it became clear to him that he was going to leave Lakai for adidas and Carroll understood why. He even claims he told Marc to take the offer. But he says that he asked him to hold off on the announcement because it would disrupt selling product that was already in production and ordered. This isn't unheard of in the real world outside of skating - it's called garden leave. Marc said he was down for that and Carroll claims the agreement was in place and signed off by everyone. Rumors persisted that MJ was going to be announced on adidas during the leave period and Carroll asked MJ repeatedly if this was true. MJ said no. MJ lied and was announced in Away Days ahead of the schedule he agreed upon with Carroll despite Carroll repeatedly asking him if there were any issues and if he was going to be announced early. THAT was what he's pissed about and why MJ was kicked off of Chocolate, not for leaving Lakai for adidas. And we know that they didn't kick him off for leaving Lakai because they didn't kick off Mike-Mo, Pops, Koston, Biebel, or AO for leaving Lakai after Fully Flared came out. They essentially kicked him off for breach of contract, a real risk when you have the same boss for multiple employers, so it was a stupid move on MJ's part to lie.

MJ is a great skater, but a fucking mess of a human being and anyone who has followed skating for more than a few years knows this. That's why nothing came out of his time at adidas and nothing came out of his own board brand except some creepy boards with some very misogynistic / rape joke implications and him scamming people. I hope he gets the help he needs.

[close]

What were the misogynistic / rape joke implications?

The Barbie doll boards are really gross:

[Paul Cicero]

I think it's often a thin line between fraud and being overwhelmed or whatever, in these situations.

About two years into the pandemic, an artist (non-skateboarding) I enjoyed, whom I always thought was super underrated and slept on, was selling some hooded sweatshirts as merch. This guy never really got the credit he deserved, even though a few way more successful dudes bit his whole steez.

Eager to support, I bought 3 hooded sweatshirts for $200. He emailed me personally almost immediately and told me that my credit card didn't go through, could I do it again? I did it again and, suspecting that it probably went through twice, told him that I didn't even care if that happened and wouldn't refund; I would take the 6 sweatshirts. I held him up on a pedestal that high.

Long story short, I was only ever sent one sweatshirt and promised the rest to be given to me in person, which never happened. It bummed me out and I had a difficult time enjoying his art quite the same way afterwards; there was always this nagging sense he took advantage of me.

Cut to like 2 years later and the artist took his own life. It turned out he had been battling cancer and other diseases that were eating up his internal organs. He had been reduced to selling his pieces for a few hundred each towards the end of his life, and had trouble keeping a car, a place to live, no health insurance, etc. I basically realized that what I had done was effectively given him an almost $400 donation for all the art of his I enjoyed over the years. And I was sad he was gone.

I know it's not quite the same situation as laid out above with MJ ($800 is a lot of money), but I do hope you are ultimately able to find a way to make sense of it that doesn't involve you feeling like you got got by someone you looked up to.

For MJ to be doing this over and over to folks who idolize him, he has got to be hurting something awful and can't be in a good place.

Mate, that’s hectic.

You’re a good egg for being wiling to support someone that much.

If you feel upto it, can you send me a link to some of the work you are talking about?

MJ is one of the greatest skaters to ever live, I genuinely hope he’s doing ok after reading some of these interactions.

[Sick_McCrank_]

There’s a 2h trasher interview on YouTube with MJ called „the basement tapes“. Good watch anyway.

https://youtu.be/c3Pz1TbMR6g?si=kRu2J9JrPjt4TMXv
Starts ca. at 1:15


Must be from around the time he started B&C.
In the end, when B&C becomes the topic, it feels somewhat strange.

I mean maybe it’s just because the interview went on for so long and he just got tired or it’s because just before they talk about the lawsuit about his kid, which seemed to fuck him up pretty bad.
but something feels weird the way he talks about B&C.
 
Man I wish he was successful with that.

[cornman]

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I really didn’t want to do this, for a variety of reasons, but the truth hurts and it’s embarrassing I even have to post this.

MJ ripped me off for $800. I bought a piece of his art and 3 boards from him and he flat out stole the money from me and bounced. Completely ghosted. He made sure I sent the money ‘Friends and Family’ so I had no recourse but never did I think he’d screw me over even tho I was seeing more and more social media comments from those he had screws over. He communicated with me for a few weeks but as someone else. As in, I knew it was him writing but he would write things like “Marc values your loyalty”, and “Marc really wants you to have this stuff as soon as possible” and “Marc appreciates your patience he’s going to really hook you up for being so cool”. It was odd and creepy but whatever, I just wanted it to be over. Weeks became months and I simply wanted what I paid for.

$800 might not be a lot of money for some but it is to me and it was insanely stupid on my part. That said, I’m an adult and no one twisted my arm or forced me to purchase anything from Marc. It was impulsive on my part. I chose to bc I wanted to support. “Support”. I’ve always tried to support on the projects he’s been involved with down the years. I even still have a few of his Matix pieces. However, I’ve felt extremely foolish and REALLY dumb every single day since.

I assumed he was having financial hardship so it got to the point I offered him to keep $400 and send me back $400, of my own money, and just sell the stuff to someone else. A free $400 no questions asked. I just wanted something back if he didn’t intend to send me what I paid for.

MJ fucking sucks. The guy stole $800 of my money and ghosted me. I no longer give a rats ass what he’s done on a skateboard he’s a shitty and disingenuous person at his core. I do repeat, I fully own it, Im a big boy and I got beat. I just shouldn’t have been so foolish with my money. It’s that old fable about the girl picking up the snake and it bites her, the snake saying “you knew I was a snake”.

I don’t care what someone is dealing with. Just be honest.

[close]

Other posters here also got ripped off by MJ. Remember reading the posts from @Underpressureflips and I believe others.

Reminds me of Pappalardo trying to rip off some board collectors from way back.

It sucks, these heroes of ours turning out this way.

[close]

i never heard hard numbers before but it sounded like a lot of people on here didn't get their decks or shirts from mj. i just chalked it up to depression or failure somehow on his end but it sounds like he might have hit some serious licks and perhaps it was more fraud than simply being overwhelmed or whatever. i have optimism bias and want to think mj meant to get the goods to the guys. maybe he's like mac from tortilla flats and on the way to mail stuff he spies his paisanos drinking a jug and goes off with them, leaving the box on a bus bench. tomorrow does the same thing.

I’ve mentioned this in the past and it’s not meant to counter the shitty experience you had, but I too bought a board from Marc and was ghosted. Didn’t get any replies to my attempts to recoup the money. But 6 months later I got a box with 5 boards for Business and Co. I’m not sure what the story is, but he might have gotten over his head and started sending whatever product he had to some of the people he could track down, in a completely disorganized fashion.

[slapdiddy]

I really liked all of Marc Johnson's parts. Him and Jerry Hsu are my favorite OG skaters.  I don't know how to have a favorite newer skater because skate parks and rapid progression from immediate insta clips, not waiting years for a new video to come out, have made everyone stupidly good now.

[kneebone]

I really didn’t want to do this, for a variety of reasons, but the truth hurts and it’s embarrassing I even have to post this.

MJ ripped me off for $800. I bought a piece of his art and 3 boards from him and he flat out stole the money from me and bounced. Completely ghosted. He made sure I sent the money ‘Friends and Family’ so I had no recourse but never did I think he’d screw me over even tho I was seeing more and more social media comments from those he had screws over. He communicated with me for a few weeks but as someone else. As in, I knew it was him writing but he would write things like “Marc values your loyalty”, and “Marc really wants you to have this stuff as soon as possible” and “Marc appreciates your patience he’s going to really hook you up for being so cool”. It was odd and creepy but whatever, I just wanted it to be over. Weeks became months and I simply wanted what I paid for.

$800 might not be a lot of money for some but it is to me and it was insanely stupid on my part. That said, I’m an adult and no one twisted my arm or forced me to purchase anything from Marc. It was impulsive on my part. I chose to bc I wanted to support. “Support”. I’ve always tried to support on the projects he’s been involved with down the years. I even still have a few of his Matix pieces. However, I’ve felt extremely foolish and REALLY dumb every single day since.

I assumed he was having financial hardship so it got to the point I offered him to keep $400 and send me back $400, of my own money, and just sell the stuff to someone else. A free $400 no questions asked. I just wanted something back if he didn’t intend to send me what I paid for.

MJ fucking sucks. The guy stole $800 of my money and ghosted me. I no longer give a rats ass what he’s done on a skateboard he’s a shitty and disingenuous person at his core. I do repeat, I fully own it, Im a big boy and I got beat. I just shouldn’t have been so foolish with my money. It’s that old fable about the girl picking up the snake and it bites her, the snake saying “you knew I was a snake”.

I don’t care what someone is dealing with. Just be honest.

This is completely on Marc and you should not feel bad or guilty whatsoever. Dude sucks, this sealed it.

[overlyoffensive]

at the end of the day both are legends in their own right and i'm sure both aren't saints

best to remember them for the good shit they did

[overlyoffensive]

what!? were you guys playin dice or something

[ToySanta]

Some of ya’ll have not been around addicts and it shows.. fuck MJ for all his thievery. Talented skater. Absolute conman. He didn’t get overwhelmed, he got up to fraud. There are enough stories on this board alone to point to that.

I hope he refunds everyone he stole from. I don’t need to see him skate til after he owns up to his crimes and makes restitution.

[chany penguin]

Some of ya’ll have not been around addicts and it shows.. fuck MJ for all his thievery. Talented skater. Absolute conman. He didn’t get overwhelmed, he got up to fraud. There are enough stories on this board alone to point to that.

I hope he refunds everyone he stole from. I don’t need to see him skate til after he owns up to his crimes and makes restitution.

i don't know if anything changed from the interview posted to the fraud but he said he quit drinking on that 2 hour video. and he said that the lawyers (both his and his wife's) took all his dinero. so he might not be a millionaire or an addict, currently. he might have promised the moon and was unable to deliver vs feeding an addiction or rubbing hands and grinning over a pile of scammed cash.
since mj is bald, let he who is without hair cast the first stone.

[overlyoffensive]

hope that shits gotten better for him if he was battling addiction.

bummer to hear he was doing some sketchy shit. most skaters aren’t good business men it seems

[TMKF]

I will say this. I was interested in buying some of his art when it was up on IG and I was told to contact this chick to purchase and even payment was to go to this other person...I felt that was odd so I didn't go through with it. I will say that I had thought that someone else close to him perhaps an ex or maybe an employee or something had his IG account and was using his following to steal money from his followers...im not saying that's what happened here but I'm thinking its a possibility because that's the feeling I get when contact him to buy some art as it clearly wasn't him I was talking to but someone either working for him or in a relationship with him...I got the feeling it was his girlfriend or something.

EDIT: So I just looked back in my messages and the chicks name is Erin Hirsh (@Erinhstyle on IG), this is the person who was answering the DMs on MJs IG account and the person who I was told to send the money to Venmo account is @Erin-Hirsh. I'm not sure exactly what was going on here but it sounded too sketchy for me to send over hundreds of dollars.

[overlyoffensive]

damn that’s sketch. good for you for kind of feeling suspect enough to not go through with it though. so he’s pretty much done with business and company then?

[TMKF]

I really didn’t want to do this, for a variety of reasons, but the truth hurts and it’s embarrassing I even have to post this.

MJ ripped me off for $800. I bought a piece of his art and 3 boards from him and he flat out stole the money from me and bounced. Completely ghosted. He made sure I sent the money ‘Friends and Family’ so I had no recourse but never did I think he’d screw me over even tho I was seeing more and more social media comments from those he had screws over. He communicated with me for a few weeks but as someone else. As in, I knew it was him writing but he would write things like “Marc values your loyalty”, and “Marc really wants you to have this stuff as soon as possible” and “Marc appreciates your patience he’s going to really hook you up for being so cool”. It was odd and creepy but whatever, I just wanted it to be over. Weeks became months and I simply wanted what I paid for.

$800 might not be a lot of money for some but it is to me and it was insanely stupid on my part. That said, I’m an adult and no one twisted my arm or forced me to purchase anything from Marc. It was impulsive on my part. I chose to bc I wanted to support. “Support”. I’ve always tried to support on the projects he’s been involved with down the years. I even still have a few of his Matix pieces. However, I’ve felt extremely foolish and REALLY dumb every single day since.

I assumed he was having financial hardship so it got to the point I offered him to keep $400 and send me back $400, of my own money, and just sell the stuff to someone else. A free $400 no questions asked. I just wanted something back if he didn’t intend to send me what I paid for.

MJ fucking sucks. The guy stole $800 of my money and ghosted me. I no longer give a rats ass what he’s done on a skateboard he’s a shitty and disingenuous person at his core. I do repeat, I fully own it, Im a big boy and I got beat. I just shouldn’t have been so foolish with my money. It’s that old fable about the girl picking up the snake and it bites her, the snake saying “you knew I was a snake”.

I don’t care what someone is dealing with. Just be honest.

I'm curious what Venmo account you sent it to, please see my post above.

[overlyoffensive]

holy shiiiiit man that sucks. sorry to hear about that.

800 is a lot of money. if it was him, wonder how many times he did that? what a shame! hope that tom foolery has stopped

[Bupstop]

I will say this. I was interested in buying some of his art when it was up on IG and I was told to contact this chick to purchase and even payment was to go to this other person...I felt that was odd so I didn't go through with it. I will say that I had thought that someone else close to him perhaps an ex or maybe an employee or something had his IG account and was using his following to steal money from his followers...im not saying that's what happened here but I'm thinking its a possibility because that's the feeling I get when contact him to buy some art as it clearly wasn't him I was talking to but someone either working for him or in a relationship with him...I got the feeling it was his girlfriend or something.

EDIT: So I just looked back in my messages and the chicks name is Erin Hirsh (@Erinhstyle on IG), this is the person who was answering the DMs on MJs IG account and the person who I was told to send the money to Venmo account is @Erin-Hirsh. I'm not sure exactly what was going on here but it sounded too sketchy for me to send over hundreds of dollars.

Yup that’s the lady I sent money to via Venmo for a print Marc did. I believe that her and Marc split up a little bit after I sent her the money. I don’t know what exactly happened but I doubt she communicated to Marc that I sent her the money if they were broken up and I’m sure she was more than happy to have that money but who knows? She never responded to any of my messages either.

[overlyoffensive]

was the venmo name chauncey peppertooth?

[TMKF]

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I will say this. I was interested in buying some of his art when it was up on IG and I was told to contact this chick to purchase and even payment was to go to this other person...I felt that was odd so I didn't go through with it. I will say that I had thought that someone else close to him perhaps an ex or maybe an employee or something had his IG account and was using his following to steal money from his followers...im not saying that's what happened here but I'm thinking its a possibility because that's the feeling I get when contact him to buy some art as it clearly wasn't him I was talking to but someone either working for him or in a relationship with him...I got the feeling it was his girlfriend or something.

EDIT: So I just looked back in my messages and the chicks name is Erin Hirsh (@Erinhstyle on IG), this is the person who was answering the DMs on MJs IG account and the person who I was told to send the money to Venmo account is @Erin-Hirsh. I'm not sure exactly what was going on here but it sounded too sketchy for me to send over hundreds of dollars.

[close]

Yup that’s the lady I sent money to via Venmo for a print Marc did. I believe that her and Marc split up a little bit after I sent her the money. I don’t know what exactly happened but I doubt she communicated to Marc that I sent her the money if they were broken up and I’m sure she was more than happy to have that money but who knows? She never responded to any of my messages either.

Idk man it sounds to me like she may have been the one scamming people, at least that’s the feeling I got. I wonder if they were dating and she had a bunch of his stuff and she used his IG to get rid of it all pretending to be him or speaking on his behalf…I mean not sure if that’s what happened but it seems at least possible considering you sent the money to her and not Marc. I mean shit for all we know his account got hacked once he left the socials and this was some scammer. This is exactly why I didn’t do it cuz something didn’t sound right.

[heritage]

Thank you everyone that has replied, I very much appreciate the support and community. It took me quite awhile to decide to write that post on our main forum.

@TMKF the Venmo account I paid was (at)goodsandservices

[Mr. Pickles]

that's awful, heritage! you should be able to support people you like. i'd expect this from 90s kelch or, i can't even think of anyone. maybe lennie kirk? but mj seemed like a gentleman. sullied his legacy with petty theft. sad for you and him.

Yo don’t throw kelch under the bus like that. I bought 2 decks off of him and his little bong bunny project. He shipped that shit promptly and was super communicative. Respect the OG.

[Atiba Applebum]

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that's awful, heritage! you should be able to support people you like. i'd expect this from 90s kelch or, i can't even think of anyone. maybe lennie kirk? but mj seemed like a gentleman. sullied his legacy with petty theft. sad for you and him.

[close]

Yo don’t throw kelch under the bus like that. I bought 2 decks off of him and his little bong bunny project. He shipped that shit promptly and was super communicative. Respect the OG.

They did say 90s Kelch.   Modern Kelch seems like a gentleman

[botefdunn]

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that's awful, heritage! you should be able to support people you like. i'd expect this from 90s kelch or, i can't even think of anyone. maybe lennie kirk? but mj seemed like a gentleman. sullied his legacy with petty theft. sad for you and him.

[close]

Yo don’t throw kelch under the bus like that. I bought 2 decks off of him and his little bong bunny project. He shipped that shit promptly and was super communicative. Respect the OG.

[close]

They did say 90s Kelch.   Modern Kelch seems like a gentleman

early 90s Kelch was very nice to me as a kooky little out-of-towner at emb. Maybe womeone else can speak to later 90s