The San Francisco Standard has an interesting piece on Thrasher owner Tony Vitello made up of quotes from a September 2022 interview in which he discusses Jake Phelps’ fentanyl overdose and why Thrasher didn’t mention Phelps’ cause of death when the news broke. And, more importantly, why Tony was even willing to speak about Phelps’ death with The Standard in the first place:
“There was some concern about Jake’s parent’s reaction to how he passed. And my position was—and has always been—that his family’s word is the word I go by. And that’s why we’re here in this interview today because Marie [Phelps] told me that she wants to talk about it and that she thinks it’s important to talk about.”
This appears to be a follow-up/add-on of sorts on The Standard’s previous story by David Sjostedt titled The Killer of a Skateboarding Legend Went Unnamed for Years. Could Deaths Have Been Prevented?
No one is ever happy with these kinds of stories. And yes, it’s kind of sus to point the finger at anyone for how they handled a personal tragedy while they were in the middle of it. Drugs are bad, kids. Don’t do ’em.
[Link: The San Francisco Standard]
