FOuL ON ICE CuBE BIZ
Hoops league partner is tied to extremist Bannon
THE CO-FOUNDER of hip-hop mogul Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league is defending the company against accusations that right-wing political playmaker Stephen Bannon was calling the shots.
Ice Cube’s partner, Jeff Kwatinetz, said in an affidavit filed Monday that he is friends with Bannon, but insisted that the former White House strategist has no role with the league.
“Prior to starting the Big3, I ran and operated a company called the Firm Inc., which at one point was the largest music, film and television management company in the world,” Kwatinetz said in the court document.
“Steve Bannon was previously the chief financial officer of the Firm. It has been widely reported that Mr. Bannon worked with me, and although our politics were different, Mr. Bannon was and remains my friend.
“Mr. Bannon has nothing, and never had anything to do with the Big3. Mr Bannon never attended a game. Other than possibly knowing that I have a leadership role in the Big3, Mr. Bannon has no connection, no role and no involvement with the league.”
Kwatinetz’s affidavit is the latest legal development in the suit by Ice Cube’s (right) hoops league against a group of investors accused of backing out of an investment agreement with Big3. The investors, who have ties to the royal family of Qatar, are being sued for $1.2 billion. Bannon’s name surfaced after the league’s former commissioner, Roger Mason, was fired following corruption allegations. Mason fired back, saying he was terminated for exposing the company’s “racist” ties to Bannon, the conservative firebrand who helped mold his controversial anti-immigration initiatives. The affadavit alleges that he Qatari investors also mentioned Bannon to Kwatinetz, complaining about Bannon’s political positions and the Trump administration’s support of a blockade on Qatar.
Kwatinetz said he did not want to engage with the investors on those topics. He said he is just trying to get them to pay the rest of the money they owe on a contracted $11.5 million investment. So far, only $7.5 million has been paid.
Big3 has also alleged that the investors, called the Sport Trinity, were trying to push out the company’s founders. A spokeswoman for Sport Trinity called the Big3 lawsuit and the supporting affadavit “Hollywood fiction.”
“Jeff Kwatinetz is engaging in a xenophobic PR smear campaign against the largest investors in the Big3 basketball league to cover up his own mismanagement and erratic behavior with respect to the league,” the spokeswoman said.
The league kicks off its second season next month.