Former ‘Shark Tank’ contestant from Newton claims show is all a lie in lawsuit
An entrepreneur from Newton who appeared on ABC’s “Shark Tank” in 2010 claims in a lawsuit that the show’s producers lied about investments and distribution deals for his product, according to The Boston Globe. Alan Kaufman said he never received a penny despite a verbal on-air agreement that would have two “sharks,” or judges, invest $200,000 into his hands-free umbrella “Nubrella,” the Globe reports. He also claims that a distribution deal he appeared to get with The Sharper Image in a follow up episode was completely fabricated. According to the Globe, Kaufman said new investors haven’t bought into his product, assuming that the “sharks” and Sharper Image pulled out due to some defect in Nubrella or his business plan. Kaufman filed the lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court last week against the show’s media and production companies, seeking compensation for lost investment opportunities, a piece of the revenue for each time an an episode featuring Nubrella airs, and a label indicating the original air date for each episode. “For the first six months it was great exposure,” Kaufman told the Globe. “But I never knew they’d be running re-runs for six years, after Nubrella has gone through a massive transformation.”
Read the full report at the Globe.
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