TikTokers Josh Richards and Vinnie Hacker have claimed those who fought in the huge YouTubers vs. TikTokers boxing event have yet to be paid in full.
UPDATE 6/25/2021 10:26 AM PST – Social Gloves Entertainment has responded after TikTok stars Vinnie Hacker and Josh Richards levied claims that fighters who participated in the Battle of the Platforms were not compensated.
In an Instagram story, Social Gloves stated that they are “working tirelessly to verify the financial results” of the event.
The platform then claimed that they’d hired a “first-class forensic auditor to make sure that all amounts are properly accounted for” and that their “sincere hope is to pay every fighter and every talent who participated” on a “reasonable timeframe,” while encouraging participants to send in receipts.
Original story is as follows:
On June 12, a selection of huge influencers from both YouTube and TikTok gathered together at the Miami Hard Rock Stadium to face off in an attempt to prove which platform is superior.
The night had some explosive moments, but as hard as they tried, team TikTok only managed to score one win over team YouTube, with Vinnie Hacker beating Deji in one of the most talked-about fights of the night.
The highly anticipated main headline fight was between Bryce Hall and Austin McBroom, and although Bryce ended up losing, he didn’t need a win to be promised an enormous amount of money. Prior to the fight, he revealed: “I’m getting 4% of pay-per-view sales…Then $5 million as soon as I step in the ring, and then a $1m knockout bonus.”
However, in an episode of the BFFs podcast, Vinnie Hacker and host Josh Richards claimed that the participants of the event still haven’t been paid in full.
After host Dave Portnoy said he’d heard that people were yet to receive their money, Josh claimed: “Fighters didn’t get paid, artists didn’t get paid, no one got paid.
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“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 also went on to claim that he’s “95% sure” that the company due to pay the fighters filed for bankruptcy two days prior, but his fellow hosts questioned why the news, if true, isn’t getting more attention. He said the company in question ‘might’ be Social Gloves, which has since appeared to be confirmed due to their Instagram stories response to the allegations.
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He added: “I heard there was suing involved already, and there was sh*t going down. I don’t know if maybe they came to an agreement, I don’t know if they worked it out in the last 24 hours, but I’m gonna bank on the side that you’re gonna see these fighters all get p*ssed really really soon.”
Vinnie Hacker says he hasn’t been paid
They later brought TikToker Vinnie Hacker on as a guest, and asked him whether there’s any truth to Josh’s claims that the fighters hadn’t been paid.
“There’s a lot that we have to deal with right now, and I don’t even know the full story,” he said. Vinnie explained that he even got a call telling him to “keep his head up” because they “don’t know what’s going on right now.”
He continued: “This whole time, this whole thing, I’ve been so out of the loop, because it was just terrible communication in the first place.” He then went on to confirm that he’s not been paid yet.
It’s not clear which other fighters are in a similar position to Vinnie, but if Josh’s predictions are true, participants may come out of the woodwork soon to share their frustrations publicly.