Muscle Gossip #20- Bikini Pro Goes π Mental
Jennifer Pimentel won her IFBB Pro Card at last year's NPC Nationals by winning the B Class in the Bikini division. Last weekend she made her professional debut, in dramatic fashion, at Jon Lindsey's PimentelIFBB MuscleContest Pro Bikini Championships. In that event, Jennifer opted to not return to the finals. That, in itself, is very rare in the pro ranks, but wouldn't, on it's own, be enough to make mycolumn. The real drama ensued in-between the pre-judging and the night show, and was kicked off by an email sent by Jennifer's husband, Rob Baker, to Jon Lindsey. I was forwarded a copy of this email, and here are the best bits for your inspection.
Dear Mr. Linsdey
"This letter is to express my deepest shock and anger about the Culver City Pro Bikini contest the weekend of March 26th. My wife is Jennifer Pimentel and she did not even place in the top 10 and humiliated with third call out. Yes she is my wife but I am a very objective person and also someone who would admit the truth. The truth is she should have been in 1st call out and she should have been in top 3 for sure.
Here is the truth, Your shows are rigged and Lee Thompson is a joke! If he is a head judge then he should get glasses or quit because judging on politics and favoritism is not only wrong but evil as many girls work hard to get to a level of accomplishment based on dedication and sacrifice.
When the Pro girls came on stage I went up to the front to get some pictures of the Pro competition and my wife and while I was sitting there some guys were no doubt part of the political process were talking about who was pre determined to win. In addition they said some guy named Manning who also had "his" girls in the top 5 and "bob shell girl". As the first call out was given many people in the audience were amazed as to the crap Lee Thompson and his crew of joke judges selected. "
"My wife did not have cellulite and fat ass or looked like trailer trash hookers like some of the first two call outs."
"Your show is an insult and people should be warned to not participate in your shows or anything that has to do with Lee Thompson who is a piece of shit and I cannot wait until I see him in Dallas Texas were we are from as I see him in the gym! I look forward to our conversation!"
"I have told my wife she is not doing any more of IBBF related shows and she is now going to move to WBFF as Pual Dilet warned us about your shows and Lee Thompson. Paul was right and we were wrong to believe in Lee and your organization and I have spent thousands of dollars to help my wife pursue her ambition to get what?. Based on this bull shit show my wife will now loose sponsorships that she worked so hard to get after she got her pro card. Now those sponsors will pull out due to the ranking of this bias and unfair and rigged show.
I will make it my goal in life to let the world know about your BS scam as I would not have believed it unless I heard it and saw it first hand.
Your organization and Lee Thompson destroyed my wife and that was not right. May God deal with you and you get everything you deserve as your organization has no honor, integrity or ethical standards but politics and who buys who!"
There were literally 8 other emails sent to me, and many text messages, but from the above letter, I think you get the gist. Mr. Baker was none-to-happy that his wife wasn't in the first call-out and, more specifically, in the top 3. Unfortunely, for everyone involved, Rob went about demonstrating his displeasure in the worst possible way.
After receiving the email, Jon Lindsey forwarded it to Lee Thompson, who was the head judge at the event. Lee read it out loud to his wife, Stacey Thompson, as they got ready to go to the night show. When Lee and Stacey entered the hotel lobby, someone yelled out, "That's the bald motherfucker right there". Lee didn't hear the remark as he was rushing out to get their car, but Stacey did hear. Alone in the lobby, Stacey figured she had two options; to ignore the man, who she believed to be Jennifer's husband... or to approach him and try to explain the situation to him. She chose to confront him.
Lee Thompson, Courtney West, and Stacey Thompson
Stacey describes the meeting:
"I went up her husband, put my hand out and asked, ‘Are you Rob?' He said ‘Yes', and I introduced myself. He said, ‘I know who you are'. During this time, he ignored my outstretched hand. I asked him, ‘Will you shake a lady's hand?' After about 10 long seconds, he finally did. I told him I knew about the comments he made. I suggested that he spend some time talking to the judges to get their opinions and reasoning behind Jennifer's placing. For some reason, this prompted him to stand up quickly, knocking his chair onto the ground. His face was so red, and he was obviously barely in control of his temper... I started to worry about my safety, and I thought he was about to either hit me, or chase Lee out into the parking lot."
Rob & Jennifer Pimental
Luckily this incident ended without any more than a few loudly stated complaints. Lee pulled up in the car, and Stacey made it out to the car and back to the night show, unharmed. Oy vey, you're saying, right? Well before closing this sordid affair, here's what Jennifer had to say about the events:
"He (Rob) was just not happy with the results. It did not make sense to him."
"He didn't want me to go back for the night show. We talked about it, and I told him I had to go. That if I didn't, people were going to say I'm a sore loser, and then they're going to hold it against me... And I'm not a sore loser. So, basically what happened was, I didn't' go. I respected the wishes of my husband. I had to give in to the person that supports me, and has invested thousands of dollars into my career. This was a family issue."
Jennifer placed last; 16th place. It's important to note, that since Jennifer didn't return, we don't truly know where she would have placed. The option to give her a DQ or DNR (did not return) was not chosen, as it would have been on her record forever. Things may look bleak for Jennifer now, but since I had the chance to talk to her on the phone, I can say that Jennifer was put in a very tough situation. From the time I spent talking to her, I felt like she genuinely regretted the whole situation and would have come back to the night show if it had been up to her. I've since spoken to some of her friends who say she is a very sweet girl, and no one I spoke to had a bad word to say about her. On the other hand, her husband seems to have rubbed many people the wrong way.
I asked Lee Thompson what good could come out of this situation, and if he would like to make any comments. This is what he emailed me:
"What I hope that competitors take away from this incident is that they cannot pre-determine their placement or why they placed as such. Judges do and will, provide insightful feedback that can assist competitors with personal improvements in any given division or they can even recommend switching into another division based on physical structure. But, it's important a competitor always demonstrates good sportsmanship at all times before, during and after a contest. You deserve respect and so does the organization, your fellow competitors, and the officials, as well."
Accueil 
