"JORDAN'S NASCAR WAR ENDS, HOUSEWIFE WALKS EARLY, GRAMMY SINGER STABBED & MICHIGAN COACH JAILED"

0:03 Callaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Friday, December twelfth, twenty twenty five. Before we dive in today, mark your calendars. Sunday, We're kicking off a special countdown series right here on celebrity trials, the top ten trials of the year. You won't want to miss it now, Celebrities behaving badly, It's what we do here. And today we've got four stories that prove fame, money and talent don't exempt you from consequences, well, mostly don't exempt you. Sometimes the system bends over backward for the rich and famous. Michael Jordan's war with NASCAR is over. Twenty three to eleven. Racing in Front Row Motorsports have settled their antitrust lawsuit against the France Families Racing Empire. We've been covering this trial for two weeks. Tuesday, NASCAR CEO Jim France was sweating. On the Wednesday morning settlement announced, terms undisclosed. Jordan claimed victory, NASCAR claimed victory.

1:08 Somebody's lying. Jennifer Shaw, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Star is out of federal prison, served less than half of her six and a half year sentence for defrauding thousands of elderly victims in a telemarketing scam. She's in community confinement now, halfway house or home confinement. Either way, she's not behind bars while her victims are still waiting for their six point five million dollars in restitution. Grammy nominated opera singer Jubilant Sykes is dead seventy one years old, stabbed to death in his Santa Monica home Monday night. His son, Micah, thirty one years old, was arrested at the scene. The call is coming from inside the house. And Michigan football coach Sharon Moore was fired Wednesday morning for an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. By Wednesday evening, he was in the Washtenaw County jail police investigating an alleged assault. From national championship to jail cells in under two years, I'm read Carter today, Celebrities and consequences or the lack thereof. This is celebrity trials. Let's start with the settlement that has the racing world buzzing. We've been following this case since it began. Michael Jordan's six time NBA champion, arguably the greatest basketball player who ever lived decided to take on NASCAR, not on the track in the courtroom. Twenty three to eleven Racing That's Jordan's team, co owned with Denny Hamlin and business manager Curtis Polk, filed an anti trust lawsuit against NASCAR alongside front Row Motorsports.

2:38 The allegation NASCAR operates as a monopoly. The France family, which has controlled the sport since its founding, uses anti competitive practices to squeeze teams while keeping the lion's share of revenue. The teams wanted permanent charters. NASCAR's charter system is essentially a franchise model, guarantees your team entry into every race plus a bigger cut of the purse money than open teams get. But the charters aren't permanent. They expire when NASCAR's media deals expire. Current agreement runs through twenty thirty one. After that, NASCAR could theoretically pull your charter and you're out. Jordan wanted security. Front Row wanted security.

3:20 NASCAR said no. September twenty twenty four, NASCAR presented teams with a take it or leave it charter offer, gave them hours to sign. Most teams caved. Twenty three eleven in front Row refused. Jordan testified during the trial, said attorneys advised him the charter agreement could violate antitrust laws. Said he felt he needed to challenge NASCAR, that the sport he loved was being strangled by monopolistic practices. The charter agreement included a non disparagement clause. Sign this and you can never publicly criticize NASCAR again. Jordan, a man who built his on competition and winning, wasn't about to sign away his right to speak. So he sued, and for two weeks we watched NASCAR squirm Tuesday. This week, NASCAR CEO Jim Franz took the stand Wednesday morning, before France could finish testifying, attorney Jeffrey Kessler announced that the parties had reached a settlement in a way that will benefit the industry going forward. Translation both sides blinked. Terms weren't disclosed, of course they weren't. Settlements rarely are, but here's what we know. Twenty three to eleven in front Row raced as open teams for most of twenty twenty five.

4:41 After various court rulings, they were never in danger of missing races. Not enough cars show up each week to force anyone out, But they missed out on charter money, charter revenue they would have had if they'd signed like everyone else. So what did they get in this settlement? We don't know. More money permanent charge changes to the non disparagement clause. The France family doesn't exactly have a reputation for generosity. What we do know is that Jordan went up against one of the most entrenched family dynasties in American sports and walked away claiming victory. The France family has controlled NASCAR since Bill France Senior founded it in nineteen forty eight. They've crushed every challenge to their authority.

5:24 Drivers who complained got blackballed. Team owners who pushed back got squeezed out. But Michael Jordan isn't some mid level team owner who can be intimidated. He's Michael Jordan. He has more money than some NASCAR tracks are worth. He has a platform, he has lawyers who've won antitrust cases. Before the trial revealed what we already suspected. NASCAR takes the majority of revenue while teams struggle with skyrocketing costs. The next gen car introduced in twenty twenty two forced teams to use NASCAR approved single source suppliers instead of building parts in how costs went up, team share of revenue didn't. Jordan saw an opportunity. Maybe he saw injustice, maybe he saw a business deal gone bad. Either way, he fought, and now it's over. Both sides get to claim victory, both sides get to save face, and we'll probably never know who really won. But I'll tell you this, NASCAR will think twice before presenting another take it or leave it offer to Michael Jordan. Sometimes the best outcome isn't winning the lawsuit. It's making sure nobody tries to push you around again. From a billionaire who fought the system to a reality star, the system is letting slide.

6:50 Jennifer Shaw, fifty two years old, former star of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, sentenced in twenty twenty three to six and a half years in federal prison for wire fraud conspiracy. Defrauded thousands of people, many of them elderly, many of them vulnerable, in a telemarketing scam that ran for nearly a decade. Wednesday morning, Shaw was transferred from the federal prison camp in Brian, Texas to community confinement. That means she's either in a half way house or on home confinement. Either way, she's not in a prison cell anymore. Her projected release date is August thirtieth, twenty twenty six. She was sentenced in January twenty twenty three.

7:32 Do the math. That's roughly three and a half years served out of a six and a half year sentence, less than half. The Bureau of Prisons wouldn't comment on why she was transferred or where specifically she's being held. Privacy, safety, and security reasons standard response. They never explain why some inmates get early release while others serve every day. Let me remind you what Jennifer Shaw did. She ran out a telemarketing operation that targeted vulnerable people, elderly, unsophisticated, electronically people who didn't understand they were being scammed. The scheme promoted bogus business services, supposedly helping people make money through online businesses, except the services were fake, the promises were lies, and the victims lost everything. Assistant US Attorney Robert Sobelman said Shaw was the most culpable of more than thirty defendants charged in the nationwide fraud, the ringleader, the mastermind, the one who made millions while her victims got nothing, And what did Shaw do with those millions? Lived in a ten thousand square foot mansion in Utah, called it the Shawski Chalet, least a Porsche Panamera. Maintained an apartment in midtown Manhattan, reality TV lifestyle funded by grandma's social Security check. After her arrest, she marketed Justice for Jen merchandise, said, the only thing I'm guilty of is being Shaw Mazing.

9:00 Profited from her own criminal charges, mocked the victims while fighting the case. At sentencing, she changed her tune. I alone am responsible for my terrible decisions. It was all my fault and all my wrongdoing. I wish I could have stood outside myself and seen the harm I was causing and changed course. I am profoundly and deeply sorry, profoundly sorry, right, So sorry that she fought the charges for years, So sorry that she sold merchandise making light of her crimes, so sorry that she lived in luxury while her victims struggled. She pleaded guilty in July twenty twenty two, agreed to pay six point five million dollars in restitution and forfeiture once released, once released, not before.

9:47 The victims have been waiting years, they'll keep waiting. Shaw got six and a half years served, maybe three and a half. Now she's in community confinement, which if its home confinement, means she's probably in a comfortab house somewhere, not a prison cell. Meanwhile, some kid caught with drugs does ten years, a desperate person who robbed a convenience store does fifteen, but a wealthy reality star who systematically defrauded thousands of elderly people three and a half years, and then she goes home. Welcome to justice in America. Two tier system, one for the rich and famous, one for everyone else. Your tax dollars at work. We'll be right back with a Grammy nominated singer stabbed to death in his own home by his own son. And a Michigan football coach who went from national championship to jail cell in under two years. Welcome back to celebrity trials.

10:53 I'm Reed Carter. Monday night, Santa Monica, California, officers RESPET responded to a nine to one one call reporting an assault in progress at a residence in the coastal city west of Los Angeles, inside. They found Jubilant Sykes, seventy one years old, Grammy nominated opera singer, baritone voice praised as charismatic by The New York Times, stabbed multiple times critical wounds. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. His son, Micah Sikes, thirty one years old, was at the home, taken into custody without incident, arrested on suspicion of murder. The call is coming from inside the house. Jubilant Sykes was nominated for Best Classical Album at the twenty ten Grammy Awards for Bernstein Mass, where he performed the celebrant role.

11:43 He appeared in the nineteen ninety Metropolitan Opera production of The Gershwins Porgy and Besses as Jake, a Los Angeles native who spent his career moving seamlessly between opera, classical music, and pop. My singing is like breathing. It's an extension of me, Sykes told NPR in two thousand and two. I don't think of it as extraordinary. It's my passion. He was artistic adviser for Orchestra Santa Monica, sang in and narrated performances. The organization released a statement calling him a true inspiration whose artistry, generosity, and kindness touched countless lives. Music director Roger Kallia remembered him warmly. The community is in shock. A man who brought beauty into the world killed in his own home by his own son. Details are scarce. Police recovered, a weapon, investigation ongoing, no information about motive, no information about what led to the confrontation.

12:44 Just a seventy one year old father dead and a thirty one year old son in custody. We don't know if Micah Sikes has an attorney. We don't know what happened in that house Monday night. We don't know why a son would allegedly stab his father to death. What we do know is this family violence is the most common form of violence. The people most likely to hurt you are the people you love, the people you trust, the people you let into your home. Jubilant Sykes spent his life creating beauty, opera, classical music performances that moved audiences to tears. He was seventy one years old. Should be enjoying retirement, should be mentoring young singers, should be watching his grandchildren grow up. Instead, he's dead, allegedly killed by his own child. Some cases don't have explanations that make sense. Some violence defies understanding. A father and son, a knife, a nine to one one call, A life ended.

13:46 Jubilant Sykes was seventy one years old. Grammy nominee Opera Singer artist. Father. Should still be breathing, should still be singing, Rest in peace, jubilant Finally today. How fast can a career implode? Wednesday morning, University of Michigan announced it had fired head football coach Sharon Moore for cause reason inappropriate relationship with a staff member. University maintains zero tolerance for such behavior. Wednesday evening, Moore was booked into the Washtonaw County jail. From national championship to jail cell less than two years. Let me back up. Sharon Moore thirty nine years old, Kansas native didn't play football until his junior year of high school, walked on at Butler County Community College, then transferred to Oklahoma, where he played offensive line for Bob Stoops. Coaching career started as a graduate assistant at Louisville, then Central Michigan, then Michigan under Jim Harbaugh. When Michigan won the twenty twenty three National Championship, Moore was offensive line coach and co offensive coordinator. He filled in as interim coach for four games while Harbaugh served suspense for potential NCAA violations. The team went four and zero under Moore.

15:05 He looked like a rising star. January twenty twenty four, Harball left for the Los Angeles Chargers. Michigan promoted Moore to head coach, five year contract, base salary five point five million dollars annually. The program was in good hands, except it wasn't. Moore went eight and five in his first season, nine to three this year, respectable, not championship caliber. But the problems weren't just on the field. The NCAA signed stealing scandal followed more into his tenure. Former staffer Connor Stallions had led a scheme to steal opponent's signals. Moore deleted an entire fifty two message text thread with Stallions on his personal phone. The texts were later recovered and shared with the NCAA. Moore was suspended for two games this season as part of self imposed sanctions. The NCAA added a third game, but the deletion the cover up, That's what sought attention. What was in those texts that Moore didn't want anyone to see? Now this inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Moore is married with three young daughters.

16:11 The university provided no details about the alleged relationship. Hours after the firing, Pittsfield Township Police, a couple miles south of Michigan Stadium, issued a statement they were called to investigate an alleged assault, took a person into custody. That person was jailed pending review of charges by prosecutors. Given the nature of the allegations, the need to maintain the integrity of the investigation, and its current status at this time, we are prohibited from releasing additional details. The statement didn't name anyone, but Moore was booked into Washingtonaw County jail Wednesday evening. The timing isn't coincidental. So we have an inappropriate relationship and an alleged assault. We don't know if they're connected. We don't know the nature of either allegation.

17:01 We just know that a man who was coaching a top twenty team forty eight hours ago is now sitting in a jail cell. Michigan is looking for its third coach in four years, the winningest program in college football history. In Chaos, The eighteenth ranked Wolverines play Texas in the Citrus Bowl on December thirty. First interim coach Biff Poggy will lead them. Moore's five year, twenty seven point five million dollar contract terminated for cause the university owes him nothing smart enough to win a national championship as interim coach, too stupid to avoid destroying his own career. Make it make sense. That's celebrity trials for Friday, December twelfth, twenty twenty five. Michael Jordan's war with NASCAR ends in settlement terms undisclosed, both sides claim victory. Jennifer Shaw walks out of federal prison after serving less than half her sex.

18:00 Her elderly victims still waiting for six point five million dollars in restitution. Jubilant Psykes seventy one years old, Grammy nominated opera singer stabbed to death in his Santa Monica home. His son, Micah arrested at the scene, and Sharon Moore fired as Michigan football coach. Jailed hours later. From national championship to criminal investigation in under two years. Don't forget Sunday. We're kicking off a special countdown series. You won't want to miss it. I'm reed, Carter, see you tomorrow. This is Celebrity Trials.