Is anyone else sick of Slave Smiley constantly talking about how he has a job but the only thing we ever see him doing is following paycheck girlfriend Gretchen Rossi around and hanging out with the Real Housewives of Orange County?
Well, Slade is again protesting against reports that he is a jobless deadbeat dad! Speaking to WetPaint, Slave says the allegations hurt his feelings and simply aren’t true.
“I was in real estate,” Slade says of his career pre-Housewives, “I was technically a consultant.” But NOW, oh but NOW, he runs Grayson Entertainment, a company which puts together endorsement deals for celebrities. Doesn’t he mean puts together endorsement deals for ONE pseudo-celebrity who goes by the stage name of Gretchen Christine?
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Slave insists that the rumors of him not working come from “lulls” in between contracts – and just like with real estate; no sale equals no dollars. He claims he is always working on securing deals, however. Gretchen does give him from 10-2 each day to play online solitaire get some work done.
While appearing on the show has brought many opportunities, there’s also been some serious drawbacks. “The most disheartening was obviously the whole ‘deadbeat dad’ accusation,” Slave reveals. “That was the hardest on me, because I had full-custody of my kids, and I fought for full custody of my son.” When? Even in S1, I don’t remember that.
“So to have his medical condition brought into this and have people assume that I was a deadbeat dad all of a sudden, that was the most difficult.” Slade‘s ex-girlfriend Michelle Arroyo maintains that she has full physical custody of Grayson and has previously attested that Slade was seriously delinquent on his support payments. He, in turn, accused her of being behind a recent red carpet attack against him. Yeah right.
Slade says the recession impacted his earning capabilities greatly and he simply doesn’t make enough money to be an AmEx Black Card holder anymore. Poor guy!
“My biggest issue with all of that is, all I did was file for reduction of support,” Slade continues. “I was ordered to pay almost $4,000 a month, which means the first $8,000 I make, half goes to taxes, half goes to support. So I’d have to be making 20 to 30 grand a month to keep up with that type of order. And I just don’t have that type of job anymore.”
Slade went to court last year and obtained a modification and is now paying around $700 per month.
Slade claims the allegations made against him by Housewives co-stars like Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Barney not only gave him the sads, but they ruined his business credibility – which in turn led to Grayson suffering financially. Uuuuhhhhh… get off the show?
“So by those girls, using me as content, and making those accusations, they literally hurt my ability to earn for my son,” Slade contends. “It affected my ability to earn for my son. A lot of my contracts, they got cancelled,” because brands didn’t want to be negatively associated with him.
“If they were so concerned about him, why would you make such public accusations?”
And Slade says the Housewives should have been helping Grayson instead! “If you want to help, do a charity event. Come and ask me what the truth really is. How can we all work together to help him and kids like him?… Don’t accuse me of being a deadbeat just because my income has changed.”
Gretchen and Slade hosted a benefit for Grayson last year and the entire cast attended. Oddly it was not filmed for the show.
I cannot wait to hear Tamra‘s rebuttal on this. Oh, wait she’s contractually obligated to be nice and supportive of Gretchen and Slade now. Whoopsie!
Things have since started to turn around. Slade says his frame of mind has changed and several positive opportunities have been presented to him. And he believes in time his name – and reputation – will be cleared.
“I’m hoping that the radio show and as you go on and continue to watch, you’ll start to see more about who I really am, not just those 8 minutes that Bravo’s editing into [each episode of] their TV series.”
Slade also says he’s a multifaceted guy and there is more to him than the character he plays on TV. Did you know – he can speak Japanese? And he did in fact compete in the Tour de France! Someone please verify this. Slave – I know you are reading this – where’s the proof? “I’m just old, so I’ve done a lot,” he laughs.
Hopefully things will turn around for Slade and he can keep up with his support payments for his son’s sake! Best of luck, Sladey. Slade’s new show is called RadioSlade and can be found on 92.7 LA.
In other deadbeat dads of the OC news, Brooks Ayers is insisting the 20/20 investigative report about him contains some serious misnomers. Um… unlike Bravo, I’m pretty sure a national news show with a ton of credibility does their homework – and their background checks!
And proving that he’s actually interacted with his “extra child” Brooks updated his Twitter photo to one of him holding the son he is accused of not supporting. Nevermind that his son is now 3 and a half and in the picture he’s about a year old, but you know it is proof that he saw him at least once. So you go, Brooks! We still await comment from Vicki.
A photo of Brooks’ new twitter avatar is below!
THOUGHTS ON THE LATEST? WHAT’S YOUR REACTION TO ALL OF THIS?
Oh, yeah – Brooks so follows Reality Tea on Twitter. He has to keep up with all our snark! [Photo Credit: Brooks Ayers’ Twitter]
