mcroft | Chisler of Light

I'm reasonably contemptuous of Thomas Kinkade's art, but he's certainly got the franchise business model down right, or so I thought. According to the LA Times, he's under Federal investigation for fraudulent dealings with franchisees.

The ex-owners allege in arbitration claims that, among other things, the artist known for his dreamily luminous landscapes and street scenes used his Christian faith to persuade them to invest in the independently owned stores, which sell only Kinkade's work.

That's not the worst thing for TK, I guess. The testimony is sorta juicy, too.

They and others also described incidents in which an allegedly drunken Kinkade heckled illusionists Siegfried and Roy; cursed a former employee’s wife who came to his side when he fell off a barstool; fondled a startled woman’s breasts at a signing party; and urinated on a Winnie the Pooh figure at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. (ED: Emphasis mine)
...
Terry Sheppard, a former company vice president who is the "angry ex-employee" Kinkade referred to in this week’s letter, earlier told The Times that he often went to bars and strip clubs with the artist and once heard him utter, "This one's for you, Walt," as he relieved himself on the Disney figure.

Not the image he wants to project, I bet. However, I find myself less outraged by this than I expect anyone who might actually be a customer of his. Lotsa tacky and low-class, but the Disney Corporation isn't all that cuddly and there's nothing wrong with heckling Sigfried and/or Roy. Oh, and the Harlan Ellison Impersonation isn't OK when Harlan does it, either.

This one's for you, Christopher Robin.