Justin Gimelstob’s Future At Tennis Channel In Flux After Admitting Halloween Assault
A day after Justin Gimelstob entered a no-contest plea to a violent Halloween 2018 attack on a man on the streets of West Los Angeles, the Tennis Channel is trying to figure out whether it wants him to come back or cut him loose.
“We are sure that Justin is pleased that this matter has been resolved,” a spokesperson for the Sinclair Broadcasting Group-owned channel said Tuesday. “Since he took his leave of absence from Tennis Channel in November 2018, we have been waiting for the legal system to run its course.
Related stories
Jussie Smollett's Lawyers Sued By Alleged Attacker Brothers
“Now that this is behind him, we will have internal meetings among our executives – and meetings with Justin – to discuss his future with Tennis Channel,” the outlet concluded, with an ominous tone for the former Grand Slam doubles champion.
Gimelstob delivered a seemingly unprovoked beat-down to former pal Randall Kaplan while the venture capitalist was out trick-or-treating with his pregnant wife and 2-year-old daughter last year. The broadcaster approached Kaplan, a friend of Gimelstob’s ex-wife, from behind and tackled him to the ground before belting him about 50 times while threatening to kill him, according to a temporary restraining order filed last year.
On Monday, Gimbelstob was in court to enter his plea to felony battery. While admonishing Gimbelstob’s “violent, unprovoked attack in public in front of children” and his inability to control himself, the L.A. Superior Court judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor count of battery with serious bodily injury.
“Justin Gimelstob pled no contest to the charge filed against him and the Judge, after evaluating the evidence, exercised his discretion and reduced the charge to a misdemeanor,” says his lawyer Shawn Holley of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP. “Justin did this to move on with his professional life and focus on his family.”
The players’ rep on the powerful Association of Tennis Professionals board was sentenced to “three years of summary probation, 60 days of community labor and 52 weeks of anger management classes,” according to L.A. County D.A. Jackie Lacey’s office.
No time behind bars, but that’s a long way from Gimelstob’s strident online promise in December to present “the true and complete facts concerning this matter, not only about what really happened that night, but also about the long history of Mr. Kaplan’s behavior and toxic interference” in his life.
Kaplan and his spouse were both in court Monday, offering their POV on what happened that Halloween night. Madison Kaplan told the judge that in her doctors’ opinion, stress from the incident caused her to have a miscarriage.
“Justin might not have gotten his wish in killing Randy, but he did kill a tiny innocent little baby girl,” she said as a stonefaced Gimelstob stood close by.
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
