GRAFTON - Joseph and Janice DeSherlia – the husband-wife team who own and operate the Grafton Harbor Marina – have just joined a growing list of small businesses that have filed lawsuits against NBCUniversal and its celebrity star Marcus Lemonis through the CNBC show The Profit.
The DeSherlias say they never appeared or even sought to appear on the NBCUniversal show. Yet, in 2019, NBCUniversal produced an episode of The Profit called “Rise of an American Floodtown,” focused on the city of Grafton, Illinois, (40 miles from St. Louis) and the town’s recovery after a devastating flood damaged the local tourism economy.
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The DeSherlias allege NBCUniversal and TV star Lemonis used the opportunity as a PR stunt. The DeSherlias claim the on-air tactic defamed the DeSherlias and their business and interfered with their contractual obligations, for the sake of ratings.
On-air discussions between CNBC star Lemonis and former Mayor Rick Eberlin included what the DeSherlias said were statements about Grafton Harbor Marina owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city in back rent. The DeSherlias said they never owed the city back rent and that Lemonis never approached the DeSherlias for their side of the story.
“It breaks my heart that all the blood, sweat, and tears that my wife and I have put into our business for over fifteen years have been destroyed by a false narrative on national television that we don’t run our business right,” said Joe DeSherlia, owner of Grafton Harbor Marina. “Being born and raised in Grafton, serving our community and helping put it on the map for tourists was the joy of our lives — but now it’s been completely destroyed.”
“As is typical of every episode of The Profit, the entire episode is smoke and mirrors rooted in depicting Marcus Lemonis as a white knight savior for small business,” said Gerard Fox, counsel to Joseph and Janice DeSherlia.
More than 50 small businesses have publicly claimed wrongdoings by NBCUniversal and Marcus Lemonis. The DeSherlias’ case is a companion lawsuit to two existing cases filed against NBCUniversal for the CNBC television show “The Profit.”: Nicolas Goureau, et. al v. NBCUniversal Media LLC, et. al., Case No. 160490/2021 – NY State Supreme and Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, Inc v. NBCUniversal Media LLC, et. al. – Case No. 21STCV41185 – Los Angeles Superior Court.
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