7/9/09 | Rockstar "Apologizes"

news: Rockstar apologizes and donates $100,000 | www.wiqaable.com
Rockstar has issued an apology and will be donating $100,000. Here's what wiqaable.com -- one of the blogs that were threatened with a lawsuit for publicizing the Rockstar boycott -- questions, "Is this enough? Is Rockstar just playing the media and the boycotters? Many are calling it "rainbow/pink-washing." Many are incredibly skeptical and not satiated -- as well as they should be. How come Rockstar didn't retract any of the Cease & Desist letters that they sent out?" They also include the press statement on their blog post.

6/28/09 | Rockstar Might Apologize

Rockstar Energy Drink fracas update | www.bilerico.com
After writing a post about Rockstar's "lawyer's dickish attitude and over-the-top aggressiveness" Bil Bilerico gives us the update that Rockstar is apparently remorseful for their lawyer's actions and might just make an announcement to make "peace" with the LGBT community. We wonder, is a mere announcement-of-an-apology enough? We think actions speak louder than words.

6/20/09 | Pollo Del Mar Boycotts Rockstar

Has Pollo Become Everything She Once Despised? | www.sfbaytimes.com
RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Pollo Del Mar reflects in an article on her coming to be involved in being an activist -- "something as simple as choosing a different beverage" -- through the lens of remembering a friend and writes, "I — like Charles C.C. Tsai, who was [threatened to be] sued for libel after founding a Facebook group exposing RockStar’s connection to Michael Savage - have made a personal decision to boycott this product. There is simply no way I can in good conscience financially support a company which even minimally profits Savage, a man who lost his MSNBC position for telling a gay caller to “get AIDS and die.” Though this connection may be disputed, an Oct. 15, 2006, article in the SF Chronicle also lists RockStar CFO (Savage’s wife Janet Weiner) as the Director of Savage Productions, producer of “The Savage Nation.” More and more damning evidence piles up against the RockStar line daily. And I cannot help but question the business practices of a company which, quite in contradiction of Savage’s on-air assertion that “diversity is perversity,” has openly provided its product for free at 18th & Castro in efforts to build a consumer base there."

6/17/09 | David Mixner Supports Boycott

Impressions ... | www.davidmixner.com
In what are more or less news briefs, David Mixner praises the efforts of those working on the Rockstar Boycott effort, "Aaron Baldwin continues to push his boycott of Rockstar because of its ties to Michael Savage's (real name: Weiner) family. He faces a lawsuit in an attempt to silence him. Baldwin is a real hero on this one!"

6/15/09 | Rockstar & Vendetta Masks

Why Did Rockstar Energy Drink Boycotters Wear 'Vendetta' Masks in the LA Gay Pride Parade? | www.pensitoreview.com
Not quite sure exactly what the Pensito Review meant by "as if the boycott against Rockstar Energy Drink weren't surreal enough" but that's besides the point. Apparently at the LA Pride this past weekend, boycotters showed up with megaphones, props, signs and above all, Vendetta Masks.

6/15/09 | Bigots Need Energy Too!

Bigoted, sexist homophobes need their energy too! | www.examiner.com
From "Big Red Boots" a caffeine examiner, an article offering the perspective that it's "silly to deny there is a connection" because it's obvious that Rockstar is a family business.

6/15/09 | H8STAR

H8STAR: WHY BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR? | www.h8star.com
A new website that also asks and answers the question of "Why Boycott Rockstar?" while also featuring an e-mail subscription list and explaining that "Our goal is to ELIMINATE Rockstar from LGBT and non LGBT businesses along with educational institutions, grocery store chains and local retailers. We need your help and support in this matter of making change within and outside of our community. If you work in a business or frequent a business that serves Rockstar, convince management to carry another product. Inform them on the Savage family’s positions and how harmful they are to our society and individuals. No more money should be made of off this vile product that comes from a despicable, hateful family."

6/14/09 | Why Boycott Rockstar?

Grassroots Equality Network Officially Endorses a Boycott of Rockstar Energy Drink | www.grassrootsequalitynetwork.com
An informational statement and call for action on "why is Rockstar worth boycotting?" filled with information on CFO Janet Weiner, Michael Savage Weiner, CEO Russell Weiner including a petition, quotations, organizations founded, and videos.

6/12/09 | TTARED Stands Ground

Rockstar Energy Drink Won't Intimidate Us | www.thetruthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com
In a very recent blog post, The Truth About Rockstar Energy Drink (TTARED) comes out saying, "We too have been sent letters warning us to take down our website and apologize or they will take action against us, but we're not going anywhere. We have told no lies and the attempt that Rockstar is making to silence us will not work."

6/11/09 | AlterNet On Facebook's Censorship

Facebook Group Highlighting Michael Savage/Rockstar Connection Censored | www.alternet.org
One of the websites that had been threatened by Rockstar published this article that explores the reported censorship on Facebook (i.e. Charles Tsai's account being disabled twice, the original group's deletion and the second group's "hijacking" and Facebook's inaction).

6/11/09 | Boycott Rockstar? Yes? No? Dunno?

Should You Boycott Rockstar? | www.edge.com
A surprisingly unbiased article from edge.com offering a chronology of events of sorts.

6/11/09 | Examiner Points Out Absurdities

Michael Savage's son claims associating his father's comments with his company is defamation! | www.examiner.com
An interesting blog post from Michael Savage Examiner Bill Bowman that claims several absurdities of the story through a chain of logic.

6/10/09 | Bilerico Project Threatened

Rockstar energy drink threatens Bilerico Project with lawsuit | www.bilerico.com
In an incredibly insightful blog post, Bil Browning, founder of The Bilerico Project, defends against and discusses Rockstar's threats of lawsuit against the group blog.

6/10/09 | AlterNet Threatened

AlterNet Takes on Shock Jock Michael Savage and Gets Threatened With a Lawsuit | www.alternet.org
One of the first websites to report being threatened by Rockstar's lawyers

6/9/09 | Members Organize, Recreate Group

Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR (reposted) | www.facebook.com
After Charles Tsai's 2nd group "Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR* my apology" was reportedly "hijacked," past member of the group, Hideki Tojo, quickly organized and recreated a Facebook group claiming, "YOU CAN'T STOP THE SIGNAL ... IF THIS ONE GETS HACKED/REMOVED, THEN SOMEONE PLEASE CREATE ANOTHER, AND SO ON."

6/8/09 | Charles Tsai Creates Personal Blog

www.dontdrinkhate.com
After the "hijacking" Charles Tsai reports that he created a personal blog explaining "this blog is here because I feel that Facebook is no longer the best means to let people know about what’s going on with Rockstar. With my accounts being disabled twice and the group being deleted once and “hijacked” once, I felt it was important and more safe to have something on the free internet that couldn’t just be shut down/deleted without any warning/my knowledge."

In it, Tsai explained a quick timeline of events, posts the original description from the second "Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR* my apology" group and posted a list of individuals and websites that had received threats.

6/8/09 | Internet Picks Up Story

Shortly after the Facebook group's "hijacking" the worldwide web quickly started to pick up the story:

User generated content site "reddit" quickly grows to consistently feature the story as the top ranked



User generated content site "MetaFilter" also quickly featured the story



Additionally bloggers soon began featuring the story focusing on all different aspects such as Facebook's alleged censoring, Rockstar's threats, etc.

"Rockstar Energy Drink vs. the internet" - sad pony guerilla girl of Daily Kos



"facebook rolls over & plays dead for the haters" - Jackie Sheeler of Get Angry With Me!

6/8/09 | Consumerist Draws Attention

The Rockstar Energy Drink/Michael Savage Connection | www.consumerist.com
The blog post by Chris Walters on the consumerist that started drawing the situation to attention. It was originally named, "Rockstar Energy Drink Doesn't Want Consumers To Know About Connection To Shock Jock Michael Savage"

6/8/09 | Facebook Group Is "Hijacked"

Pointed to as one of the defining moments in the story is when the second Facebook group created by Charles Tsai was reported to be "hijacked."

As Charles Tsai describes, "at 1:52 am the group is changed by a sudden new admin “Jan Mikael Evertsson” to a new group name and description “LEGALIZE CHILD LABOR!” Then around 4:00 am the group is changed again to “ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK FANCLUB!”

Some screenshots that are circulating the internet:

This shows that Charles Tsai was still the admin of the group as of 6/8/09 at 5:53PM as he had sent out a message. Note: Facebook automatically changes the group title to reflect the current group name, the screenshot was taken after the alleged "hijacking." And, notice his name is in black which supports his claim that his account was disabled.



These next screenshots show that a "Jan Mikael Evertsson" changed both the title and description of the group. Members of Tsai's original group say that they were infuriated because they woke up to see that from the group's changing their philosophies and opinions were wrongly changed and imposed on them.

6/7/09 | TTARED Copycat Website Surfaces

A new "The Truth About Rockstar Energy Drink (TTARED)" website that is almost an exact clone of the original has made its presence on the world wide web. The design and formatting is almost an exact replica but the content is dramatically different with content showcasing Rockstar in a much favorable light perhaps in an attempt to confuse the public. People are assuming that Rockstar or Michael Savage Weiner had a hand in the creation of this site and questions of copyright infringement have been brought up. Look at the differences for yourself:

The New, Fake TTARED Website | http://truthaboutrockstar.com/index.html



The Original, Real TTARED Website | http://www.thetruthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com

6/4/09 | Gaywired Threatened

Rockstar Demands Retraction from Gaywired | www.gaywired.com
A witty, tongue-in-cheek yet safe retraction from Gaywired for posting a story about the website "thetruthaboutrockstar.com"

6/2/09 | Apology FB Group Formed

"Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR* my apology" Facebook Group Formed
After Tsai's account and the "Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR!" Facebook group were deleted by Facebook, he created a new Facebook group to explain what had happened as well as issuing the apology that Rockstar's legal representation forced out of him.

Read the description of the group and Tsai's apology below, on his personal blog:

5/31/09 | wiqaable.com Threatened

wiqaablog: dear rockstar, please don't sue us | www.wiqaable.com
The first blog to publicly retract and "apologize" after threat of legal action from Rockstar

5/28/09 | Two Important Days

Charles Tsai's Facebook Account is Disabled. The Facebook Group "Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR!" is Deleted by Facebook
According to Charles Tsai in his blog post, "I wake up on May 27th, to find my Facebook account disabled. I also find out that the group was suddenly deleted." In other statements, he writes that his original account that was disabled was only enabled because of an incredible amount of effort and luck that came from a friend who had friends who knew high level managers within Facebook. However, according to members of the original Facebook group "Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR!" the group still has not been reinstated.

On 5/28/09, according to Tsai, "I receive a threat of lawsuit from the lawyers representing ROCKSTAR." The lawfirm representing Rockstar has been confirmed to be Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard & Shapiro, LLP.

5/22/09 | FB Group, Newsom & $25,000

Newsom to return $25,000 contribution from Savage's son | www.sfgate.com
The blog post from Carla Marinucci that broke the story of Gavin Newsom's campaign returning $25,000 from Rockstar CEO Russell Weiner after Aaron Baldwin, one of the admins from Charles Tsai's Facebook group "Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR!", contacted Eric Jayes, the Newsom campaign consultant, regarding the boycott Rockstar campaign and Tsai's Facebook group of over 10,000 members. It's assumed that this is what introduced Rockstar to the Facebook group.

5/6/09 | Get AIDS, Die & Drink Rockstar

You Should Get AIDS and Die, You Pig... and Drink Rockstar | www.sfist.com
Tagged under "advocacy," "boycott," "homophobia," "insanity," and "Michael Savage," sfist published this post highlighting the reasons for the boycott and who's boycotting, "not just the queers who choke on his (surprisingly entertaining) venom. Anti-war activists, Obama, the conscientious, people with dark skin, or anyone left-of center get slammed on his show on a daily basis."

5/5/09 | Michael Savage Banned from UK

Named and shamed: the 16 barred from UK | www.pressasscociation.com
On May 5th, UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith makes public the name of 16 people banned from entering the UK, Michael Savage Weiner was one of the 16 individuals.

4/27/09 | Boycott Starts To Draws Attention

Rockstar boycott in full force | www.examiner.com
Brad Kava, SF Radio Examiner, draws attention to the Rockstar boycott gaining steam in a short post highlighting Michael Jones post (which has been retracted) and a link to a video in which Michael Savage and wife Janet Weiner, CFO of Rockstar, allegedly "attack a film crew and police and claims the media made it up." A video recording that captured the incident that is featured on that post.

4/27/09 | Original Boycott Rockstar Group

Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR! | www.facebook.com
Cached version of "Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR!" facebook group started by Charles Tsai on 4/27/09

4/23/09 | Campaign Inspiration

Rockstar Energy Drink's Assault on LGBT Rights and Autism | www.bilerico.com
The blog post by Michael Jones, change.org's Gay Rights Editor and the Communications Director of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School that led to Rockstar issuing a legal threat to Bilerico project and inspired Charles Tsai to form the "Don't Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR!" Facebook group.

4/10/09 | Michael Jones & change.org

Rockstar Energy Drinks Assault On LGBT Rights And Autism | www.change.org
As known thus far, Michael Jones' article, titled above, which featured a petition on change.org was the first to have been retracted after Rockstar issued what was most likely the the same legal threat. Michael Jones is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization. The article url and title has now been changed to "Rockstar Clarification."

thetruthaboutrockstar.com

The Truth About Rockstar Energy Drink | www.thetruthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com
Perhaps the website that started it all, thetruthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com seems to have been around for quite some time as often, most bloggers and articles site it as a source of information for the different claims. No one is listed as a contact or founder (which makes sense).

11/29/04 | CEO Russell Weiner Interview

Bigger gulp: Russ Weiner liked Red Bull, so he launched Rockstar Beverages, a competing drink, and bought a Hollywood party house to promote it | www.labusinessjournal.com
This interview featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal is now receiving attention as well because in an interview, Rockstar CEO Russell Weiner credits his parents when responding to a question of how he came up with the drink (i.e. "My dad and mom have done consulting for GNC, Twin Lab, Nature's Herbs and Amway, developing products for them throughout the '80s and '90s. [...] I gave them the list of ingredients. And then, I'd tell them what to add in, what to take out ...")

LegalZoom Offers Contradiction

The Story behind Rock Star Energy Drink | www.legalzoom.com
This article filed under "Business & Tax Articles" has drawn attention because in it, multiple overlapping connections within the Weiner family are shown that could contradict the arguments of the Rockstar lawyers. Why this is getting so much attention? Because the company that this article was published and archived in, was co-founded by Robert L. Shapiro who is a part of Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro, LLP, the law firm representing Rockstar.

5/20/04 | About Michael Savage

America's laziest fascist | www.salon.com
An article written by Dave Gilson that is receiving attention now because of pieces of the article clearly show a connection between Rockstar CEO Russell Weiner and Michael Savage (i.e. "Weiner proclaimed, "I'm proud to be the son of Savage!" The 30-something Weiner is the founder of RockStar, an energy drink that he developed with his dad, drawing on Savage's previous career as a Marin County herbalist and ethnobotanist named Michael Weiner.")