Bill Simmons And The Ringer Obtain Restraining Order Against Ex-Producer Joe Fuentes

The Ringer has obtained a restraining order against former audio producer Joe Fuentes, who was fired from the company on April 25. The restraining order, first reported by The Blast, was granted this morning. It legally bars Fuentes from coming within 100 yards of the Ringer offices, any Ringer employee, or “guest stars” like David Chang until a hearing takes place in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 2.

The Ringer’s application, which you can read below, was filed yesterday on behalf of Bill Simmons. The document details Fuentes’s increasingly erratic job performance over the first four months of 2018, which included bungling the edit on Simmons’s two-part podcast with Kevin Durant and leaving Jeff Goldblum hanging over a technical issue. After Fuentes was fired, he apparently returned to the Ringer offices, where he had a loud phone conversation, asked a few employees “what they’d do if they needed to hide something from the police,” and laughed as he pulled out “a wad of 20s.”

Despite being told to stay away from the office, Fuentes apparently tried to come back several times over the past few days, beginning last Saturday. He lied about meetings he had at the office and told a security guard that he had a new job “making millions.” The director of security wrote to the building’s operations manager on Tuesday and said of Fuentes’s repeated attempts to enter the building, “Although the reason for his termination was not discussed, it appears that Mr. Fuentes has been acting unusual and proclaiming himself to be God.” He also suggested that Ringer COO Geoff Chow seek a restraining order if Fuentes made any threats.

Simmons wrote Fuentes an email that same day, expressing his concern for him, mentioning an inappropriate remark Fuentes made, and informing him that he would have to “involve law enforcement” if Fuentes kept trying to “approach Ringer employees without their consent.” Fuentes replied, “I just want you to Say sorry. I’m sorry.”

That exchange could be a phone call Fuentes made to Tanya Hubbard, where he told her “you’re fucken HOT,” “you’re going to come work for me,” and that they should go on a date because he would treat her like a “queen.” The request for the restraining order also includes several accounts from employees about Fuentes’s erratic behavior. He apparently attempted to call, text, or connect on SnapChat with about a dozen current and former Ringer employees this week. “We fear that he will retaliate and come back to the Sunset & Gower lot to do harm unto our employees or himself,” the application reads.

You can read the full application below.