Kelly Blair, the owner of now-defunct 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness near Houston, has filed a defamation lawsuit against the authors and publisher of “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime” on the eve of his grand jury testimony in the Roger Clemens perjury investigation. The book was written by the New York Daily News investigative journalism team consisting of Michael O’Keefe, Christian Red, Teri Thompson and Nathaniel Vinton. The suit also names the publisher (Knopf Doubleday) and one previously anonymous source (Robin Dobbins) cited in the book (“Authors and Publisher of Baseball Steroids Book Sued for Defamation, According to The Gibson Law Firm,” August 10).
Blair’s attorney, Jason A. Gibson, of The Gibson Law Firm, stated, “As the lawsuit alleges, Kelly Blair was maliciously and recklessly defamed by the authors and publishers of this book and at least one dubious source whose false allegations they published. Kelly looks forward to his day in court on this matter. In the meantime, he looks forward to testifying tomorrow before the grand jury in Washington.”
Kelly Blair’s lawsuit alleges that Robin Dobbins is responsible for the information in the book that links Blair directly to the sale of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to Major League Baseball (MLB) players (“Kelly Blair v. Michael O’Keeffe, et al., (Cause No. 2009-50671),” August 10)
Defendant Robin Dobbins (“Dobbins”) made false statements of fact regarding Blair and provided false information to the other Defendants. Dobbins made false statements of fact regarding Blair and his involvement in preparing “collections” of drugs to ship to Major League Baseball players, including Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens. Dobbins also claims that Blair bragged about his involvement in supplying steroids to professional athletes.
Kelly Blair told Mike Fish of ESPN.com that Dobbins was disgruntled after Blair refused to hire him as a personal trainer at 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness.
Blair’s lawsuit also lists several additional statement published in the Roger Clemens steroid book that he claims are false (“Kelly Blair v. Michael O’Keeffe, et al., (Cause No. 2009-50671),” August 10).
“Defendants falsely stated Blair was “pushing” steroids to professional athletes and using 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness, Blair’s gym, as a front for selling drugs. ”
“Defendants falsely claim Blair was a steroid “pusher” involved in an underground steroid network.”
“Defendants falsely state Blair acquired steroids and Human Growth Hormone from AIDS patients, from individuals in Mexico and Canada and from doctors who were liberal with prescriptions.”
“Defendants falsely stated that 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness was a gym for “cops,” “strippers” and “guys that wanted to get injected.””
“Defendants additionally state Blair was associated with former IFBB bodybuilder Craig Titus, a confessed murderer and convicted ecstacy dealer, who Defendants claim moved steroids through Blair’s gym.”
Kelly Blair is in Washington, D.C. today after he was subpenoaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating whether baseball player Roger Clemens lied to Congress about his use of anabolic steroids (“Local trainer going before Clemens grand jury,” August 10).
Why the prosecutors are insisting on getting his testimony, I don’t know, but he’ll answer their questions to the best of his ability, said attorney Jason Gibson, who filed a defamation lawsuit on Blair’s behalf Monday in Harris County District Court. He’s repeatedly stated that he has no information about Clemens and steroids. […]
He understands this is a big important matter, but enough is enough, Gibson said. There’s just a lot of things that are incorrect that were enough to push him over the edge and out of business. His reputation has been trashed.
Blair owned a gym named 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness. The gym closed a few months after the book came out in 2008 because no one wanted to be associated with him anymore, Gibson said. Since then Blair has worked at any job he can find to make ends meet, he added.
The Roger Clemens steroid witch-hunt targeted the fitness industry in the Houston area last year after former IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitsky started making inquiries about several fitness professionals in an effort to substantiate the use of anabolic steroids and growth hormone by Roger Clemens.
Kelly Blair may be considered collateral damage in the war against steroids in sports. Yet, Blair’s misfortune may also be considered an acceptable loss if the government ultimately wins its case against Roger Clemens.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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