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txmomma26 5825 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-15-05, 04:09 PM (EST) "The Contender contestant commits suicide" PHIADELPHIA - Najal Turpin, a Philadelphia boxer and one of the 16 contestants on the upcoming NBC reality show "The Contenders," shot himself in the head while sitting in a parked car with his girlfriend in an apparent suicide in Philadelphia around 4 a.m. Monday. Details surrounding the death were sketchy, but Philadelphia police were not calling it a homicide. Percy Custus, Turpin's manager, said he was going by Turpin's girlfriend's house Monday morning to pick up the boxer to take him to the Poconos, where he was going to help another boxer, Yusef Mack, prepare for a fight. Custus said Turpin was having personal problems. "He had a lot of stuff on his mind," Custus said. Turpin, 23, finished taping the show in California last fall and returned to Philadelphia. But according to the contracts that the boxers signed with the producers, they couldn't resume their careers until after the show had run its course, which will be in May. Turpin was a middleweight with a 13-1 record. Another promising Philly boxer Custus was associated with, Ty Flowers, was gunned down in his driveway in a drive-by shooting six months ago. Producers were maintaining the veil of secrecy around the outcome of the show yesterday. Rebecca Marks, executive vice president of publicity for NBC, would not say how many episodes of the 13-week run Turpin was in or how far he had progressed on the show. Marks didn't know how the show would deal with Turpin's death; the show debuts on March 7. From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6974226/ SigPic by Syren   Top

Subject     Author     Message Date     ID    RE: The Contender contestant commit... Spidey 02-15-05 1    Not going there... realitybites 02-15-05 2        RE: Not going there... realtyamazed 02-15-05 3    RE: The Contender contestant commit... ladro 02-21-05 5  RE: The Contender contestant commit... volsfan 02-21-05 4    RE: The Contender contestant commit... singer 03-07-05 6        Disagree AyaK 03-07-05 8  RE: The Contender contestant commit... okaychatt 03-07-05 7    What for? AyaK 03-07-05 9        RE: What for? okaychatt 03-07-05 10            RE: What for? volsfan 03-07-05 11                RE: What for? okaychatt 03-08-05 12            RE: What for? singer 03-08-05 13                Perhaps AyaK 03-08-05 14                    RE: Perhaps volsfan 03-08-05 15

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Spidey 6259 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-15-05, 05:01 PM (EST) 1. "RE: The Contender contestant commits suicide" I guess this means he didn't win? Yes, I know, I am going to burn in hell.   Top

realitybites 1174 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Politically Incorrect Guest" 02-15-05, 09:27 PM (EST) 2. "Not going there..." >I guess this means he didn't win? I'm glad you said it and not me. Anyway, condolences to the family & friends of Mr. Turpin. Vote SUSAN BOSSO as your American Dream Derby wild card!   Top

realtyamazed 189 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-15-05, 11:02 PM (EST) 3. "RE: Not going there..." I wanted to say something, but I will hold off and just wish his family well too.   Top

ladro 1168 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Politically Incorrect Guest" 02-21-05, 03:51 PM (EST) 5. "RE: The Contender contestant commits suicide" yea, that's a pretty significant spoiler. lmao   Top

volsfan 19846 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-21-05, 03:42 PM (EST) 4. "RE: The Contender contestant commits suicide" Has anyone heard what they are going to do about the show? Will it still air as planned?   Top

singer 1910 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Herbal Healing Drugs Endorser" 03-07-05, 07:49 AM (EST) 6. "RE: The Contender contestant commits suicide" Burnett and his goons are going to air it tonight. They've already started milking the media for attention by highlighting this incredibly tragic turn of events for ratings. Acc. to some news reports, the reality show environment isolated this poor fellow from this family, his trainer and his friends. He obviously was affected negatively by whatever environment the Burnett crew created, according to news reports and interviews with close family friends. Somebody really needs to pay close attention to the tensions that Burnett creates in his filming process and the effect that this has on contestants on all of his "reality" shows. --Singer   Top

AyaK 10426 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-07-05, 06:08 PM (EST) 8. "Disagree" Actually, the reports that he was isolated seem to be extensions of comments from Najai's trainer when he first heard about Najai's death ... but it doesn't seem to be true. The police said that the reason for Najai's suicide was an argument with his girlfriend about custody of their daughter, and his family agrees: http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/articles/story.php?s=3287 In fact, if anything, it looks like being on the show gave Najai a level of income ($1500/week) that he'd never had before, which might have had a negative impact on his life ... but he wasn't exactly Richard Cory, either.   Top

okaychatt 2810 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Howard Stern Show Guest" 03-07-05, 09:36 AM (EST) 7. "RE: The Contender contestant commits suicide" How very tragic this is. I had no intentions of watching, and now that resolve has doubled. Burnett et al have a lot to answer for, I'd say. Everyone is entitled to my opinion.   Top

AyaK 10426 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-07-05, 06:17 PM (EST) 9. "What for?" What are Burnett and company responsible for? Not hiring a lawyer for him so that he could fight his girlfriend for custody of their daughter? This isn't the Expedition: Robinson suicide, where an obviously ill-adjusted Bosnian exile living in Sweden was booted first and killed himself within two weeks after returning to Sweden. The show was filmed months ago (I think filming ended in September), and Najai had received payments of $1500/week since the filming. It was the most money he'd ever made. He'd quit his dead-end job filleting fish and finally was able to support his family. He was proud of the fact that everyone was going to see him on TV (see the link to the RTW article above). And Burnett and DreamWorks had promised to try to promote more fights for the boxers -- fights that didn't involve being cheated by the crooked managers who dominate boxing. Doesn't exactly sound like a "victim" of Burnett, does it? The problem, of course, is that life goes on, and Najai's personal issues didn't get better. Lord only knows what happened between himself and his girlfriend before she got out of his car (at 4 AM on Valentine's Day) and he shot himself, with her just outside. But I don't know how you can blame Mark Burnett for that.   Top

okaychatt 2810 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Howard Stern Show Guest" 03-07-05, 08:45 PM (EST) 10. "RE: What for?" <"What for?" If the problem was that the fellow was isolated from his friends and family, and he was depressed, then the producers should have either gotten him help or allowed the guy to communicate with his family and friends. It sounds like they just used him up, then ignored him when he needed help. I don't have the facts, but if that's what happened, then I hold them responsible. These shows can be brutal to their DAWS. Everyone is entitled to my opinion.   Top

volsfan 19846 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-07-05, 09:43 PM (EST) 11. "RE: What for?" LAST EDITED ON 03-07-05 AT 09:46 PM (EST) Go back and read Ayak's post #8. I think he does a great job of explaining the situation with all the info out there. It appears the isolated quotes came from his trainer early on. I am with Ayak on this one. I don't think the show had anything to do with his untimely death. Also, from everything that I have read about the show, Sugar Ray and Sly are doing this to try and push a more pure boxing match. Unlike the rude and questionable fights we have had in the past. They are doing their best to clean up the sport and I hope they are successful! ETA: Sly just told the boxers that their families were moving to the place this was filmed so they could be with/near their families.   Top

okaychatt 2810 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Howard Stern Show Guest" 03-08-05, 07:41 AM (EST) 12. "RE: What for?" <Go back and read Ayak's post #8 Point taken. I was responding to the original post and had not read Ayak's scoop. I still think that producers of reality tv shows tend to think more of the money than they do the well being of the contestant DAWs. Sometimes that attitude distresses me. The new Intervention on A and E is a good example of territory that does not need to be explored by reality tv. RE:The Contender - I'm just not interested in anything to do with boxing, so that colored the tone of my post. I'll leave it to the rest of you all to debate the merits of the show. Everyone is entitled to my opinion.   Top

singer 1910 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Herbal Healing Drugs Endorser" 03-08-05, 02:09 PM (EST) 13. "RE: What for?" I agree totally, okaychatt. There seems to be something below the surface going on here, and the false tensions created during the filming process could not have helped the poor fellow's situation, psychological testing nothwithstanding. I believe that Burnett's a sleaze. --Singer   Top

AyaK 10426 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-08-05, 03:37 PM (EST) 14. "Perhaps" >I believe that Burnett's a sleaze. You may be right. But compared to the vermin that generally inhabit boxing and control these boxers' careers (and I don't just mean Don King and Bob Arum), he looks like the Angel Gabriel.   Top

volsfan 19846 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-08-05, 03:43 PM (EST) 15. "RE: Perhaps" You are so right about that AyaK! The local guy that does boxing here is a shady fellow at best! I think he has been in jail at least 4 times in the past 20 years. I feel sorry for the kids around him and even worse for the parents that trust him with their children!   Top

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