Slade Smiley: Unemployed, deadbeat dad, or “wealthy” multi-millionaire entrepreneur/model/actor?

Slade Smiley, The Real Housewives of Orange County “Mystery Man”

We’ve dubbed Slade Smiley the Real Housewives of Orange County a “mystery” man because:

-It’s a mystery how this guy managed to attract not one, but three of the Real Housewives, the latest, Gretchen Rossi.

We’ve posted about Slade before in Slade Smiley, Gretchen Rossi: Real Housewives of Orange County’s Jetsetting Deadbeat Dad? where Slade was almost $80,000 in arrears in back child support and interest for his two sons, one of which suffers from a rare form of malignant brain tumor. Where Slade’s ex-wife claimed Slade had visited the boy only “twice” in the past year-and-a-half and hadn’t sent his gravely ill son a birthday card. We also wrote about Slade’s now defunct website, SladeSmiley.com, and Slade’s answers on his MySpace page to a Bravo questionaire. Questions and answers such as:

What is your parenting motto/philosophy?

I am very different with the kids because they are both different people. I guess the main motto would be due unto others as you would have them due unto you.

And, on Slade and ex-Housewife Jo De La Rosa’s “Date My Ex” short-lived reality show, Slade’s former title company, and Slade’s home sliding into foreclosure.

---

Real Housewives of Orange County: DBKP Library of Articles – 30 article on the Bravo’s Real Housewives of Orange County

---

We’ve discovered Slade’s 2008 “official” site: Slade.TV, published in 2008 which includes a link to Slade’s booking agent, The Viardo Agency. Also included:

-Slades’ gallery: Numerous photos of Slade “headshots”, and yet another of Slade’s “nude” waterfall poses.

-Slade’s “projects”: None listed

-Slades’ “Media Contact”

-Slade’s “Bio” which includes:

Smiley began riding bicycles competitively in 1983 as a way to keep in shape. He competed in a number of Men’s U.S. National Cycling Championships as well as several World Mountain Bike championships. During his time as a professional athlete, Slade also worked as a model and commercial actor and was featured in commercial campaigns for Adidas, Gillette, Volkswagen, and Gatorade.

Smiley is actively involved in several charities, including the Grayson Foundation, which is focused on cancer awareness for children. He has two children, Gavin Race and Grayson Alexander.

With a new movie role in the works and several TV opportunities, there is much more to come from Slade Smiley.

And, Slade’s “News”. The “News” info was interesting because it included this pr release:

“Actor and television personality Slade Smiley makes a substantial investment with Vemma Nutrition Company”

Best known for his role on Bravo’s television series “The Real Housewives of Orange County, ”Slade is not your average TV personality. He has a long history of building companies and then selling them for huge profits. The publicly traded title insurance firm he was part of sold last year to Land America Title for a reported $235 million dollars. Slade has just finished helping his ex-fiancé and recording artist Jo De La Rosa launch her debut album “Unscripted” and she has already started burning up the charts.

And,

For his next act, Slade has just completed a partnership with Vemma Nutrition Company, the manufacturer of Verve!, a high energy, super healthy dietary supplement that acts like an energy drink. The deal between Smiley and his Vemma partner seems to be a perfect match. Slade’s show The Real Housewives has been seen by 280 million people world wide. This gives Smiley and Vemma a worldwide audience.

And,

“I am just now in the process of getting a whole new set of partners and distributors in place, and its really exciting for me to be building another brand.” “People have asked me for years to help mentor them or work with them in developing companies and I have always declined until now. Verve! is the perfect company for me to do that with. I am in a position now where I can help others start their own businesses, distributing Verve!

Last season the Housewives showed Gretchen Rossi as she worked as an extra in the filming of Jo De La Rosa’s “You Can’t Control Me” video. Bravo Fan reported Gretchen “ended up on the cutting room floor”.

Did Jo “burn up the charts”?

According to Amazon, Jo’s CD “Unscripted” is ranked “#153,702 in Music” while the song “You Can’t Control Me” was the theme song for Slade and Jo’s one season wonder, “Date My Ex”.

Lucas James, winner of Jo and Slade’s Date My Ex

The “winner” of Date My Ex, personal trainer Lucas James, posted on Jo and Slade at his blog Lucas James.

Here’s a couple of excerpts:

What happened after the finale when the cameras stopped rolling? Did you and Jo take that trip to Hawaii?

After the finale I ditched Jo and stayed up all night playing Monopoly with Katy and Myia. Kidding! No, we didn’t go to Hawaii.

Dear Sweden, Australian, and Britain Fans -

Thank you for your e-mails and comments. Unfortunatley Jo De La Rosa and I are not together. We were unable to go to Hawaii because of scheduling conflicts and other personal reasons. Jo is a wonderful woman and I wish her the best of luck on her music and acting career.

Slade Smiley unfortunatley is still a tool. The house you saw in Date My Ex: Jo & Slade was not his house, it was rented out. I believe Slade Smiley is now dating Gretchen from Housewives of Orange County. It’s sad because Jo, Slade, and Gretchen use to be all friends and met through real estate. I’m sure it’s very awkward for Jo right now.

Of course Slade is trying to run on the Housewives bandwagon because he’s no longer with Jo, lost his job, lost his house – so he’s dating Gretchen to be on the next season on Housewives.

James also posted about Slade’s arrest for civil contempt-failure to pay child support which included Slade’s mug shot.

Another category on Slade TV: Slade’s “Charities” which include The Grayson Foundation, Wish.org, and ChildrenHospitalLA.org..

Over the last decade Actor and TV personality Slade Smiley participated in numerous charities and children’s based foundations. Unfortunately, in July of 2005 Slade found himself on the other side of the fence when his then 5-year-old son Grayson was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. After dealing with hospitals and care practitioners all over the world looking for a cure and seeing the huge number of families far less fortunate, who were also trying to navigate the ever complicated medical system, Slade decided there must be more that can be done to help.

The Grayson Foundation was born. The Grayson foundation helps create and partner with other child based charities like The Make-A-Wish Foundation and Children’s Hospital L.A. to bring financial support to needy families, helping to cover excessive medical cost and bring awareness to all the medical issues affecting our children today. Slade’s own son Grayson who continues his fight has become one of only two cases in the world with his specific type of brain cancer and there is no cure.

The Grayson Foundation is committed to continuing our fight for the best medical care and support possible for all our kids.

While Grayson’s photo was posted above this blurb, one can’t but notice that the piece centers on Slade and Slade’s “efforts”, and, about Slade’s “The Grayson Foundation”-not to be confused with “Grayson Foundation“, which is a non-profit Christian organization dedicated to helping children with Autism.

Logo of “The Grayson Foundation”

There’s a mystery surrounding Slade’s The Grayson Foundation, as,

-The link provided on Slade’s page leads to a site which doesn’t relate to The Grayson Foundation.

-There are no “matches” for “The GraysonFoundation.org on the internet archive site, The WayBack Machine.

-A Google search for the foundation resulted in zero sites. And,

-A search at the state of California’s Office of the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts failed to locate The Grayson Foundation.

While Slade’s “charity work” doesn’t mention much about his son, his ex-wife’s website, Amazing Gray, is all about Grayson and his incredible fight and the family’s-minus Slade Smiley-efforts to combat Grayson’s illness.

Slade has worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Here’s the link to the Make-A-Wish Foundation Angeleno and Porsche Design Event with Slade Smiley, held in Los Angeles with a “whopping” ten percent of the proceeds for “fulfilling the wishes of children with life-threatening conditions”.

In a June 2008 Bravo TV “Where Are They Now? article, “incredibly busy” Slade spoke about his work with Make-A-Wish and the “The L.A. Youth Network”. And, The Grayson Foundation which Slade stated was his “own”:

I speak for KEEN, which stands for Kids Enjoying Exercise Now. We focus on special needs children. I also work with CUN and I am managing my own foundation, “The Grayson Foundation.”

I also just finished hosting an event for Operation Smile where proceeds from the clothing company ‘Wet Cement” go to the charity. They have just launched their brand in Saks 5th Ave. I have had the pleasure of acting as a radio co-host with Sam Phillip, on her hit show “The Single Life,” on 97.1 Free FM. I am the new face of “GERGE,” a luxury watch Brand that is set to launch a one-year advertising campaign with me. And I have just completed a joint venture with Vemma Nutrition company and the energy drink “VERVE!”

All About Slade

At no point during the interview did Slade mention the reason behind the Grayson Foundation, while the only mention of his son in the article was:

“Just shortly after I completed season two of the Real Housewives, both of my kids ended up moving to L.A. for different reasons. I made the necessary plans to follow so I could be as close to them as possible.”

Slade did mention who he “loved” to spend his “spare time” with:

“If I have any spare time left at all, I love spending it with my girlfriend, Gelusa Zaripova. She is a very busy model and actress herself so we don’t get to see each other much.”

On February 23, 2009, Slade responded to his arrest on civil contempt charges in an article by the OC Register. In the article, Slade stated that it was an “unfortunate situation” and that “his son is very ill”, and that “we have been working on resolving the issue of support versus his enormous medical bills with the appropriate agencies for several months now”. Slade went on to state that “there is nothing more important than my children”.

Even though Slade’s website stated that Slade’s former title company sold for $235 million-no mention of how much of the proceeds were Slades-and, that Slade had garnered a “six figure deal” promoting Gerges Swiss timepieces, TMZ reported on November 4, 2009, that the California Department of Child Services had sent a letter to Slade’s ex-wife stating Slade owed over $77,000 for back child support and interest. That Slade’s ex-wife had stated Slade had visited his ill son “twice in the last year-and-a-half”, and that Slade didn’t send his son a birthday card. And, that Slade had sent a letter to the courts asking for a reduction in child support payments due to Slade being “unemployed”.

By LBG

Back to DBKP Front Page

Sphere: Related Content