* * * MEDIA STATEMENT FROM ALAN JACKSON ON BEHALF OF JUSTIN GIMELSTOB * * *
“Justin Gimelstob is deeply disturbed and disheartened that Wimbledon players continue to be harassed about their relationship with and support of him, whether it be personally or professionally. Mr. Gimelstob has the highest respect for The Championships, Wimbledon and has chosen to distance himself from the tournament this year in order to avoid creating any distraction from the competition.
“However, there continues to be blatant misrepresentations and factual inaccuracies written and perpetuated by the media and individuals with personal agendas. It is time to set the record straight.
“The actual facts:
- “The altercation between Randall Kaplan and Justin Gimelstob was one in which both men took part. Although Mr. Gimelstob deeply regrets his involvement and takes responsibility for his part in it, the incident has been widely misreported, largely because of false statements made by Mr. Kaplan.
- “Mr. Kaplan’s description of the events in question were in the form of a ‘victim impact statement’ that was not under oath, not subject to cross-examination and was patently exaggerated and demonstrably false.
- “The altercation was, in fact, extremely brief and so minor that the court, after analyzing the circumstances of the incident, reduced the matter to one of the lowest level misdemeanor charges. Mr. Gimelstob in no way minimizes his participation in the altercation, but to describe it as anything other than a minor altercation is a gross mischaracterization of the facts. Neither the video evidence nor the physical evidence support anything else.
- “It is equally untrue that the incident was ‘unprovoked.’ In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Immediately prior to the incident, Mr. Gimelstob was approached by Mr. Kaplan who made a horrible and pejorative remark about Mr. Gimelstob’s recently-deceased father and then initiated physical contact with Mr. Gimelstob with a shove. To call the incident “unprovoked” is a distortion of the truth, a distortion propounded by Mr. Kaplan.
- “The court’s comments at the hearing on the matter stemmed directly from the exaggerated, untested and untrue description of the incident provided to the court by Mr. Kaplan, which description was not subject to penalty of perjury, cross-examination or rebuttal. The court, therefore, was presented with inaccurate and false information, and that false information helped form the basis of the court’s comments.
- “In the coming weeks, Mr. Gimelstob expects to present evidence to the court that was unknown at the time of the hearing on the matter. This evidence will verify Mr. Gimelstob’s account of the events of the evening in question.
“Mr. Gimelstob has and will always take responsibility for his role in the events of the evening of October 31, 2018. He will no longer stand idly by while the actual facts of that evening are falsified, exaggerated or misreported.
“Mr. Gimelstob wishes the Wimbledon contestants the very best of luck during the tournament. His sincere hope is that neither he nor this unfortunate incident are a further distraction to the players on their quest for The Championship trophy. But if the media insists on reporting the incident, it should be reported accurately.”
