The Madavor and BeBop saga has seemingly ended, thanks to a new settlement between Madavor’s prior owner, Zilpin Group LLC, and the BeBop Channel Corporation. The settlement returns all BeBop-owned properties to Zilpin Group, LLC and cancels outstanding liabilities.
The Events That Led Us Here
BeBop Channel originally purchased Madavor Media in February 2023, with particular aspirations for the famed JazzTimes publication. Madavor Media owned other publications, both print and digital, including numerous photography-centric properties like Outdoor Photographer, Imaging Resource, and Digital Photo Pro.
What was initially touted as a fresh start for Madavor’s properties, BeBop’s takeover quickly went off the rails, resulting in the closure of Outdoor Photographer, Imaging Resource, and eventually all other properties. Even the jewel on BeBop’s new crown, JazzTimes, found itself mired in considerable controversy in short order.
The situation with Imaging Resource was particularly chaotic. The site initially went offline in early May, just a few months after being purchased. Its founder, David Etchells, shared his story on PetaPixel a couple of days later. And then, surprisingly and seemingly out of the blue, the longtime photography website popped back online. As it happens, it was brought back online as part of a purchase agreement between location rental company Giggster and BeBop.
That purchase agreement fell apart, resulting in BeBop suing Giggster for $25 million. Per New York State court records, New York County Judge Lyle E. Frank dismissed the suit on August 22, 2023.
Giggster ultimately purchased the online photo publication ePhotoZine the following October.
The January Lawsuit That Alleged Deception and Bigotry
Less than two months ago, Gregory Charles Royal and the BeBop Channel filed a lawsuit against Madavor’s prior owner, Zilpin Group, LLC, and its owner, Jeffrey Wolk, over BeBop’s acquisition of Madavor Media.
BeBop (Royal) alleged financial malpractice, bigotry, and racism and that Madavor Media/Zilpin (Wolk) had obfuscated vital financial information during the initial purchase agreement. BeBop’s lawsuit also served as a counterclaim to a lawsuit filed by Zilpin, which claimed that BeBop had not made the agreed-upon payments against its liabilities.
PetaPixel has previously covered that lawsuit in extensive detail.
New Settlement Puts a Chaotic Dispute to Rest
That brings us to last week when the BeBop Channel Corporation announced that it had settled a Breach of Contract dispute with Zilpin Group, LLC. The statement is presented below as BeBop Channel has published it.
As of February 29, 2024, The BeBop Channel Corporation (OTC PINK: BBOP) and ZilpinGroup, LLC settled a Breach of Contract dispute related to BeBop’s February 2023 acquisitionof Madavor Media, LLC which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of BeBop. The settlement (Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement) has resulted in the termination (Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement) of both Zilpins $3 Million Note that was coming due in 2026 and the $424,322 that had remained on BeBops Promissory note payable to Zilpin; all of Madavor’s magazine titles were assigned by the transfer to a new Limited Liability Company,TITLES JCMJ, LLC thus resulting in the removal of all remaining Madavor titles from BeBop and transferring those titles to that entity. The titles include JazzTimes, Diabetes Self-Management, The Writer, Outdoor Photographer, Imaging Resource, and Birdwatching (The Women Create Brands and Plane and Pilot which filled out the publishers roster uponBeBops acquisition of Madavor were previously sold by BeBop in 2023).
The result of these actions has eliminated all prior Notes from The BeBop Channel Corporation’s liabilities.
By:
/s/ Gregory Charles Royal
Gregory Charles Royal, Interim CEO
/s/ Sue Veres Royal
Sue Veres Royal, COO
Perhaps even more interesting than this sudden out-of-court settlement is the accompanying public statement of retraction that BeBop has published on its website, backpedaling on the allegations BeBop made in its lawsuit.
The statement is presented in its original form below.
The BeBop Channel Corporation issues the following Retraction in connection with its recent Settlement with Zilpin Group, LLC and Jeffrey C. Wolk:
The BeBop Channel Corp. hereby retracts all statements made as to the conduct of Jeffrey Wolk and Zilpin Group leading up to and continuing through and after BeBop’s purchase of Madavor Media, LLC. BeBop acknowledges that Mr. Wolk and Zilpin behaved honorably and met all their commitments to BeBop and to all Madavor’s other stakeholders, and that Mr. remains a valued shareholder of BeBop. The unfortunate allegations made about Mr. Wolk and Zilpin in BeBop’s prior filings and statements were inaccurate and regrettable. The parties have settled the dispute regarding the titles previously owned by Madavor Media, LLC.
What a Waste: Iconic Photo Brands Reduced to Ash
So that’s where the situation stands, and presumably, it will stay indefinitely because the properties returned to Zilpin Group, LLC under the new entity, TITLES JCMJ, LLC, were thoroughly gutted and devalued during BeBop’s short but chaotic reign. This new LLC was established in Massachusetts on February 15, 2024, per Commonwealth of Massachusetts corporate records.
While Imaging Resource is still somehow online, it has not been updated since April 2023. Outdoor Photographer, a once-vibrant magazine and website, is gone. Digital Photo and Digital Photo Pro, likewise, are dead. Between just Outdoor Photographer and Imaging Resource, that is over 65 years of photography news, features, camera reviews, and interviews that have been effectively destroyed.
After roughly a year of shambolic stewardship, although arguably only a month or two of which involved real direction, it’s unclear what anybody gained, if anything. Zilpin Group, LLC and Jeffrey Wolk received a pittance of an original purchase price, although Wolk still appears to own shares of BeBop, whatever those are actually worth. Gregory Charles Royal and BeBop no longer have any publications they purchased, including the primary prize, JazzTimes, which has been torpedoed.
And what about photographers? We received nothing and lost an awful lot. What an unbelievable and frustrating waste.