The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Embattled MyPillow pitchman and vociferous election-theft conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell’s already-bad financial situation just got worse.
After going all-in on Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” about the presidency being stolen from him, the 63-year-old was dropped by his attorneys over “millions” in unpaid bills, saw his company evicted from its Minnesota warehouse after failing to pay some $200,000 in rent, was iced out by retailers and was unable to continue advertising his wares on Fox News for stiffing the network. He’s also had his credit line slashed to the bone by American Express, was ordered to pay $5 million to a computer programmer who disproved his claims of voter fraud, was forced to auction off personal possessions and factory gear in a flailing but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stop the bleeding, and continues to battle multi-billion-dollar defamation suits by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, the nation’s largest voting machine companies, over bogus claims their equipment was rigged.
Now, Extend, Inc., a California firm that allows merchants to provide customers with product protection plans, is accusing Lindell, who last year claimed to have been stripped of everything but his house and pickup truck, of promising, then failing, to pay $564,151.39 in outstanding invoices.
“In May 2024, after My Pillow failed to make any of the payments… outside counsel for Extend sent a letter to My Pillow to demand payment,” states a federal lawsuit filed August 30. “After repeated further inquiries, Mike Lindell, Chief Executive Officer of My Pillow, emailed on June 23, 2024 that he ‘[w]ill connect this week.’ But Mr. Lindell did not connect, and never did.”
MyPillow has since “ignored repeated inquiries and demand for payment,” and “has not paid any of the amounts due,” the suit alleges.
Reached by phone on Tuesday morning, a harried-sounding Lindell professed ignorance about the case, seemingly distracted by loud banging noises audible in the background.
“No idea,” Lindell told The Independent. “But you can go ahead and send — what’s the question?”
Following a brief hold, Lindell came back on the line, saying, “I don’t know if we had a conflict with them or whatever. I have no idea right now, I’ve got bigger things going on. I have no idea.”
The relationship between MyPillow and Extend, Inc. began in November 2022, when the two entered into a contract by which Extend would “provide My Pillow’s customers with certain shipping and product protection services in exchange for a percentage of revenues generated by the sale of those services,” the lawsuit explains.
But by March 2024, MyPillow “was overdue on amounts it owed to Extend,” under the terms of the agreement. At the end of the month, MyPillow exercised a termination agreement and would wind down the relationship with a series of payments to settle its account. In early April, Extend emailed MyPillow an invoice for $110,799.22, to cover services provided the month prior. The lawsuit says MyPillow further consented to a payment schedule requiring a $75,000 payment on April 3, a $100,000 payment on April 17, a $100,000 payment on May 8, a $125,000 payment on May 29, and a $53,352.17 payment on June 12.
Extend claims in its lawsuit that it waited on Lindell until May, then called in its lawyers. Lindell subsequently vowed to take care of the debt, according to the suit, then disappeared.
“My Pillow breached the Termination Agreement by failing to make the payments required,” the lawsuit states. “As a direct and proximate result of My Pillow’s breach of contract, Extend has suffered damages.”
Lindell, who has not yet filed a formal response to Extend’s claims, is facing stiff headwinds from all directions. His recent rollout of FrankSpeech, a right-wing social media and video platform, has reportedly been a “total disaster,” with Lindell frustrating potential investors by providing them with the incorrect ticker symbol for the penny stock. He was mocked for shaving his trademark mustache and “infiltrating” last month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he was promptly drawn into an embarrassing spat with a 12-year-old online influencer. At the same time, he was somehow able to pay for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s first-class travel to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (Giuliani is “an employee” of FrankSpeech, which technically footed the bill, Lindell told CNN.)
Ethan Jacobs, the attorney representing Extend, declined to comment.
Source: independent.co.uk
