14 DAY TRIAL // After years of controversy, Lance Armstrong admitted to Oprah that he’d been doping since the mid-‘90s, stressing that he would not have won his 7 Tour de France titles without the performance enhancing drugs. That was the easiest part, it turns out.
A class-action lawsuit against the disgraced cyclist alleges that his two books, “It’s Not About the Bike” and “Every Second Counts,” are basically fraud because he shamelessly lied.
People who have bought them and were shocked to hear that Armstrong had doped are now taking him to court to get their money back, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Both Armstrong and several of his publishers are named in the lawsuit spearheaded by Rob Stutzman, a former consultant for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jonathan Wheeler, a professional chef.
“Stutzman bought the book in California and read it cover to cover. Although Stutzman does not buy or read many books, he found Armstrong’s book incredibly compelling and recommended the book to several friends,” the lawsuit states.
Apparently, Stutzman was so impressed by what he had read that, when he met Armstrong in 2005, the first thing he did after he shook his hand was to congratulate him on his book, which he had found very inspiring.
“In response, Armstrong thanked Stutzman,” the lawsuit notes.
Wheeler, on the other hand, is also a cyclist. He bought Armstrong’s first book and was “so impressed... that he bought Armstrong’s follow-up book” as well, the lawsuit states, as cited by the LA Times.
The lawsuit doesn’t specify whether these two are simply asking for their money back or are also seeing other damages.
Armstrong is yet to publicly address the new controversy generated by his admission to Oprah but, considering that he must have been prepared for all kinds of backlash after the interview, chances are he will continue flying under the radar for another while.