by The Editors on September 14, 2026
In recent court filings Lady Gaga a.k.a. Stefani Germanotta is claiming that she should not have to pay the nearly $250,000 her legal defense cost on what she termed a “publicity stunt” lawsuit, when Lost Surfboards sued her over her use of the Mayhem name, according to a story on Billboard.
In a scathing motion Friday, Gaga’s attorneys say the star should not be forced to pay the huge legal bills ($232,484 in) she racked up beating that case. They say it was “never a legitimate lawsuit” but instead an improper effort to “capitalize on the fame and popularity of Lady Gaga” by suing her over the use of “a common dictionary word. . . A litigant should not be permitted to use the federal courts to launch a publicity stunt masquerading as a lawsuit against a high-profile artist,” Gaga’s attorney Orin Snyder writes in the filing, obtained and first reported by Billboard. “Nor should it be permitted to wield the machinery of litigation as a device for extracting a settlement that the merits cannot justify. This lawsuit was both.”
Once again Gaga and her team continue to underestimate both the pop cultural reach and ferocity of Lost Surfboards. We’re guessing this will not end easily nor early. For all the details, please click the link.
[Link: Billboard]
by The Editors on September 14, 2026
Jamie Lynn and Schoph and their 1910 brand are pleased to announce the launch of their Nineteenten Outerwear collection.
Having a 30-plus-year run as a sponsored rider, having a hand in building brands, and watching companies grow into what I felt was an unsustainable business model where more was never enough — now with 1910 we get to choose our own adventure,” Lynn says. “It’s the ultimate DIY journey. We’re using all of our collective experience, with the best of friends and the most talented, amazingly creative individuals, to build something that is ours to share with the world. Keeping the integrity and soul intact is our goal, and the opportunity to create an outerwear program with the highest standards of quality and function is a dream come true. We invite you to join us on this odyssey of awesomeness, and thank you for the support.”
If it’s good enough for Jamie, it’s alright by us. For all the details, please click the link.
[Link: 1910]
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by The Editors on September 8, 2026
Yes, it looks like Donna Carpenter is finally over being the CEO of her Burton Snowboards company and has turned the top spot over to former pizza oven CEO Denny Bruce, according to a press release posted on Vermont Business Magazine.
Bruce’s journey with Burton began more than two decades ago, when he served as the company’s Mid-Atlantic Brand Manager from 2003 to 2005. His return marks a full-circle moment in a career that has since spanned leadership roles across the industry. He went on to build a career scaling global consumer businesses and modernizing heritage brands, holding senior leadership roles at Vans, Skullcandy and Traeger. As Global Brand President of Dickies at VF Corporation, he led the transformation of the 100-year-old heritage brand across core and premium lifestyle channels. Most recently, as CEO of Gozney, he helped transform the company from a Europe-focused DTC business into a global omnichannel brand.
Yeah, we didn’t know what Gozney was either, but apparetly it’s the Yeti of pizza ovens: a well-branded maker of things no one really needs. This makes Bruce perfect for the Burton job in so many ways.
For the rest of the story, please click the link.
[Link: Vermont Business Magazine]
by The Editors on August 25, 2026
After investigating the ski patroller avalanche death at Mammoth Mountain in 2025, Cal/OSHA has fined the resort more than $100,000, according to a story on NBC 4 Los Angeles.
Cal/OSHA issued Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, LLC, the company that owns and operates the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort, three violations following an investigation into a 2025 avalanche that killed 30-year-old ski patroller Cole Murphy and left a second patroller seriously injured.
Mammoth Mountain, in a written statement, says they have “fully cooperated with the investigation” and are currently contesting the citations.
[Link: NBC 4 Los Angeles]
by The Editors on August 25, 2026
Turns out Lost International and Matt “Mayhem” Biolos didn’t have the legal legs to stand on during their multilevel lawsuit against Lady Gaga, Inc. according to a story on The Fashion Law.
A federal judge has dismissed the trademark lawsuit accusing Lady Gaga of infringing surf brand Lost International’s MAYHEM trademark in connection with her Mayhem album, tour, and related merchandise. In a newly-issued order, Judge Fernando M. Olguin of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted Lady Gaga and merchandising company Bravado International Group’s motion to dismiss Lost’s second amended complaint with prejudice, finding that Lost failed to sufficiently allege that the defendants’ use of MAYHEM was explicitly misleading under the Rogers v. Grimaldi test.
It was worth a try, right?
[Link: The Fashion Law]
by The Editors on June 5, 2026
Utah’s richest man, Cloudflare founder Matthew Prince, believes it is time for Vail Resorts to begin selling off some of its assets and he would like to buy Park City where he grew up skiing and once worked as a ski instructor, according to a Jason Blevins story in The Colorado Sun.
The big problem, Prince says, is the stable of resorts are worth way more than $5 billion and Vail Resorts’ market capitalization — the company’s current share price (around $137, down more than 60% from its 2021 peak) times the number of outstanding shares (around 35.6 million) on the market — that is less than the combined value of all those ski hills. . . “At some point shareholders are going to say you know what, you don’t get to be a capital allocator anymore,” Prince says. “I was hopeful they would come to that conclusion themselves.”
As Prince points out, the issue is that because Vail Resorts’ properties could be worth more than the company they may become a target for corporate raiders who buy the entire company (which Mr. Prince doesn’t want to do) and pay for the purchase by selling off a couple of the big names in Vail’s 42 resort portfolio. The rest could be profit.
It’s a clever angle by a billionaire who wants to own his home mountain, but he may be over-valuing many of the smaller resorts that are literally worth nothing when peeled off from the major label resorts. Either way, more power to Mr. Prince. Anything that breaks up the current resort megacorp monopoly would be. . . epic.
[Link: The Colorado Sun]
by The Editors on May 29, 2026
After a serious NO to Paul Naude’s efforts to buy Rip Curl it looks like surf co.’s owner KMD Brands might be rethinking their whole “stick it out together” strategy, according to story on Australian Financial Review.
KMD Brands, owner of Rip Curl and Kathmandu, will consider all options, including a potential break-up of the business, in a sweeping review of the struggling retailer. . . The review, announced on Wednesday by recently appointed chairman Philip Bowman, marks a shift in tone for the company, after it spurned merger interest just four weeks ago and said it planned to retain its core brands.
As we’ve mentioned before, saying no to Mr. Naude rarely goes well. It will be interesting to see how this all sorts out.
[Link: Financial Review]
by The Editors on May 21, 2026
Fried chicken restauranteer Tony Hawk is reportedly putting some of his investment cash into a new MMA venture called Global League, which is funded by a $60 million war chest, according to a story on Bloody Elbow.
“We are building something authentic, something that belongs to the athletes and to the fans who live and breathe this sport,” Scott Coker said. “I’ve spent nearly two years developing this concept, and I’m thankful to Peter, all of our investors and the team we’re putting together.”
With the UFC throwing fists on the White House lawn, what better time to get in on some modern, visceral gladiator action. Beat their ass. Make some cash.
[Link: Bloody Elbow Photo: Gemini AI]
by The Editors on May 12, 2026
The North Face announced today (May 12, 2026) an eight-year partnership as the Official Performance Apparel Partner of U.S. Ski & Snowboard locking up Olympic uniforms through the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Under this new partnership, The North Face will provide competition outerwear for national team athletes, coaches, and staff across all 11 U.S. Ski & Snowboard disciplines, including the Stifel U.S. Ski Teams: alpine, cross country, freeski, freestyle moguls, freestyle aerials, nordic combined, Para alpine, Para nordic and ski jumping; the Toyota U.S. Para Snowboard Team and the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team. Athletes will wear The North Face gear during World Cup events, World Championships, national events, official training camps, and the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games through April 2034.
Sounds like a pretty good deal, no Kappa. Follow the jump for the official word from US Ski and Snowboard.
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by The Editors on April 30, 2026
A Kelly Slater affiliated Austin, Texas wave pool development appears to have hit a snag recently as seven contractors have filed $4.6 million in liens against the project, according to a story in The Austin American Statesman.
Publicly available filings indicate seven companies claim they were not paid for work completed in late 2025 and early 2026. . . That work includes water treatment, plumbing and control systems, HVAC systems, aquatic filtration materials and equipment, engineering, concrete, sand and rock, among other items. . . The claims come as the project’s ownership group, Austin Surf Club Venture LP, confirmed to the American-Statesman that construction work is pausing for now.
The project is a redevelopment of a previous wave pool failure, NLand Surf Park which closed in 2016 due to reported regulatory issues. The new development was said to feature muli-million dollar homes around the wave and has reportedly attracted purchases from Tony Hawk, Drew Brees, and Matthew McConaughey.
The development’s promotional website at the Discovery Land Company, however, appears to have been removed. Not the best sign.
Is living by the actual ocean so hard? We never will understand much of the whole wave pool business model, but stay tuned as we continue to stumble along.
[Link: The Statesman & Austin Business Journal]
