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Gurbaksh Chahal blames RadiumOne board, bloggers and social media for his demise

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

April 28, 2014 | 4 min read

Gurbaksh Chahal has spoken out for the first time since he was dismissed as CEO of RadiumOne on the back of domestic violence charges – blaming the board, bloggers and social media for his demise. Chahal, who was initially charged with 47 felonies of domestic abuse and battery, called the lawsuit “frivolous” in a blog post. Due to a lack of evidence – a video tape showing the 30-minute beating was ruled inadmissible as it had been acquired without a warrant and the victim refused to cooperate - he was offered three years probation if he pled guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence and battery charges. The former CEO claims he was pressured into taking the deal, saying the RadiumOne board was “ecstatic” with the offer and urged him to handle the issue quickly ahead of the company’s IPO. Chahal said he “ended up taking one for the team.” He also blamed social media for making it go viral, saying it became the court of public opinion where people “can’t look at the facts in 140 characters so they start to believe all of the falsified exaggerated allegations.”He specifically named Kara Swisher – co-executive editor of Re/Code – saying that "bloggers" like her turned it into a “social issue”.To the growing commentary, he was reportedly told to “not do anything” and “let the haters hate” by RadiumOne board member Robin Murray. “Been thinking some more. Absolutely don’t do anything. Let the haters hate ad move on. This will blow over very quickly and we focus on the IPO. Don’t let them get to you. Don’t respond. I know it sucks but i think this is the right way fwd. Stay strong amigo. I feel for you,” wrote Murrray in an email dated 23 April. However, following TechCrunch’s public dropping of RadiumOne as a conference sponsor and reports that Conde Nast was recondsidering the relationship it had with the company, Chahal was yesterday asked for his resignation. “When I declined to do, they fired me. Even though, I only accepted this misdemeanor plea under their guidance,” said Chahal. He went on to remind the individuals on the board that he made them “over 800 per cent on their investment” in his last start-up and appeared outraged that he hadn’t been supported during the “tough times”. Swisher has since responded to his blog post.

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