Social Gloves Entertainment has responded to the claims made by TikTokers Vinnie Hacker and Josh Richards on the BFFs podcast that none of the fighters on the card have been paid, and the company has recently filed for bankruptcy.
In a statement released on their social media platforms, Social Gloves Entertainment said they were looking into the matter. The company stated that they're trying to pay everyone who participated in the Battle of the Platforms event within a 'reasonable timeframe'.
"Before people start any rumors, we are working tirelessly to verify the financial results of the Social Gloves event. We have hired a leading accounting firm, as well as a first-class forensic auditor, to make sure that all amounts are properly accounted for. Our sincere hope is to pay every fighter and every talent who participated in this spectacular event in a reasonable timeframe. Please continue to send us your receipts, as it assists in verifying the total amounts earned," Social Gloves Entertainment said in the statement.
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However, people on Twitter are not convinced by their statement, which is evident from the reactions under their post.
Social Gloves: Battle of the Platforms took place on Saturday, June 12, 2021, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, headlined by YouTuber Austin McBroom and TikToker Bryce Hall. Team YouTubers defeated Team TikTokers by 6-1.
Vinnie Hacker was the sole winner for the TikTokers at the Social Gloves event.
Multiple YouTubers vs. TikTokers participants accuses Social Gloves Entertainment of not paying
Several fighters and other entities who were part of the YouTubers vs. TikTokers event have come forward with accusations that they were not paid for the event.
Marcos Villegas, the founder of Fight HubTV who worked as a co-host and backstage correspondent for the event, tweeted that the event only sold around 136,000 PPV buys. This is extremely underwhelming, considering the organizers were hoping for 500,000. Villegas also claimed that the fighters and other participants, including himself, had not yet been paid.
TikToker Josh Richards was asked on the podcast if he knew anything about the fighters not getting paid and whether headlining TikToker Bryce Hall was also among them.
"Fighters didn’t get paid, artists didn’t get paid, no one got paid, I'm pretty sure... From what I know, and I haven’t got to actually talk to Bryce I guess yet, but since after the fight has happened, all the reports have said that no one’s gotten paid. They’ve gotten their signing bonuses, which was like probably 100k, 50k, depending on the fighter — none of the other money’s come through," Josh Richards said.
Fellow TikToker Vinnie Hacker, who fought and won against YouTuber Deji with a third-round TKO, also appeared on the podcast and said he was asked to "keep his head up" when he enquired about pay.
Jonathan Coachman, one of the announcers at the Social Gloves event, also insinuated the same.
In press releases published on prnewswire.com, LiveXLive Media stated that the sporting and entertainment extravaganza was sold out and brought in over 3.5 billion total impressions across social media. LiveXLive Media is the global platform that acted as the live streaming partner for the Social Gloves: Battle of the Platforms event.
However, the claims made by those closely associated with the Social Gloves event clearly say otherwise.