It's so bad at Snopes they have resorted to begging for money. The liberal 'fact checking' website is on the brink of collapse thanks to terrible decisions by an owner. These terrible decisions have brought on a terrible legal battle between their owners. One of the owners has been accused of embezzling money from the company and spending it on prostitutes and other personal expenses.
It was previously reported that things are so bad at Snopes that they have started a GoFundMe campaign to beg for money. The reason they used for the GoFundMe campaign is there was a dispute between the company and "an outside vendor" which “continues to essentially hold the Snopes.com website hostage” by withholding ad revenue.
Snopes referred to their begging for money as #SaveSnopes.
Liberal 'Fact Checking' Website Snopes
A report by Daily Mail released information that contradicts the claims Snopes made about their money-begging GoFundMe page.
Per Daily Mail:
Fact-checking website Snopes is on the verge of financial collapse after its owner was accused of embezzling company funds to pay for his contentious divorce battle and lavish overseas trips with his new wife, a former Las Vegas escort and porn actress.
The company's financial woes have gotten so bad that Snopes' owner David Mikkelson started a crowd-funding website pleading for donations this week, which raised over $500,000 from generous readers in its first day.
But DailyMail.com can disclose significant facts which are entirely missing from the fact-checking website's version of events - including the fraud allegations against Mikkeslon.
Snopes.com was started by David Mikkelson and his ex-wife Barbara in the mid-1990s as a website that debunked myths and urban legends.
Then the story takes an even crazier turn:
After the presidential election, Snopes was chosen by Facebook to sit on a panel of arbiters who would determine whether news stories posted to the social media site were 'fake news.'
But at the same time, DailyMail.com revealed in December, the two co-founders were involved in a bitter divorce battle in which he was accused of embezzling nearly $100,000 in company funds to spend on personal expenses and prostitutes.
Barbara asked a court at the time to restrict Mikkelson's bank access, claiming his wild spending was going to deplete the company's accounts.
Now an advertising and internet services company called Proper Media is making similar accusations against Mikkelson in a lawsuit filed in May in California which is scheduled for a court hearing next month.
Proper Media's owners last year purchased 50 percent of Bardav Inc., the company founded by both Mikkelsons that owns Snopes, taking Barbara's 50 per cent share.
Proper Media claims that over the past year Mikkelson 'engaged in a lengthy scheme of concealment and subterfuge to gain control of the company and to drain its profits.'
Mikkelson counters that Proper Media – which Snopes also contracts for advertising work – has been holding the website 'hostage' by 'withholding advertising revenue.'
In a plea for donations this week, the Snopes founder said the website 'is in danger of closing its doors' due to Proper Media allegedly refusing to turn over ad income or relinquish its control of advertising on the website.
'Our legal team is fighting hard for us, but, having been cut off from all revenue, we are facing the prospect of having no financial means to continue operating the site and paying our staff (not to mention covering our legal fees) in the meanwhile,' said Mikkelson.
A big part of the money blown by Mikkelson was on his honeymoon with Elyssa Young. The court papers claim that their honeymoon went on company expenses. Elyssa's stage name is Eryn O'Bryn. She still has an active website offering her services as a 'courtesan.' Below is one of the pictures in her listing.
Mikkelson's Wife Eryn O'Bryn
Below is the lawsuit filed by Proper Media against David Mikkelson.
Their GoFundMe page has raised over $650,000. According to their GoFundMe page, this money will be used to continue operating the site and to pay their staff. No word yet on whether or not they consider prostitutes as staff.
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