‘Shark Tank’s’ Daymond John Granted Restraining Order Against Former Disgruntled Contestants

Daymond John has been granted the restraining order he was seeking against the former Shark Tank contestant he used to work with.

On Friday, July 21, 2023, a New Jersey judge granted John a permanent injunction against the former NFL player Al “Bubba” Baker and his family for the repeated disparaging comments they had made about the famed businessman and investor on social media and in the press, CBS News reports.

John filed for the restraining order last month after Baker spoke with the Los Angeles Times in May about the “nightmare” of an experience he had working with John. The FUBU founder first met Walker when he appeared on Shark Tank in 2013 seeking $300,000 in exchange for a 15% equity stake in his barbecue restaurant, Bubba’s BBQ & Catering, and its signature de-boned baby back rib steak.

John offered to invest $300,000 for a 30% stake in the company. However, as the years passed, things turned sour with Baker accusing John of keeping most of the profit the company made.

A settlement was reached in 2019 and Baker, his wife, Sabrina, and their daughter, Brittani, were barred from making any disparaging comments about John and his investment company DF Ventures.

But speed up to Baker’s sit down with the LA Times in May where he claimed to have only earned $660,000 from a business with $16 million in revenue that was promoted as a success story on Shark Tank.

Once John caught wind of the interview, he filed for a restraining order, claiming the Bakers violated the terms of their settlement. Now, a judge has barred the family from making any comments “that may be considered in any way negative, disparaging, or false, which could adversely impact the reputation, goodwill, credibility, or value of DF Ventures,” according to the court order.

“Defendants’ comments and posts refer to John as a master manipulator and a thief, say that he is not to be trusted, say that working with him is a nightmare, that their business is not the only business John has negatively affected, and that John is trying to steal their business,” U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler wrote in the court order.

“These posts clearly caused reputational harm that John will now have to deal with and counter.”

The Bakers are also ordered to remove all negative social media posts about John and DF Ventures.