David Bruce Murray
Jun 02, 2008
In The News|Observations|Sad But True
‘Helping’ Naomi Sego: The Rest Of The Story
Less than two weeks ago, Kasey Kemp and Judson Horner released an open letter to set the record straight with regard to their departure from Naomi & The Segos. You can read that letter by clicking HERE.
Here’s a portion of the opening paragraph:
“It is an awful thing that the TRUTH has been distorted (especially since this is suppose to be a Christian industry)and now requires this letter to be sent out. As our email friends, you deserve to know the truth about this situation. In sharing this truth with you we sincerely hope this helps to end the “stories” that have been manufactured in recent days.”
Let me just interject here with a seemingly random observation. Any time someone has to stress and re-stress that they’re telling me the truth, my bull-meter goes off.
Here’s another line from their press release: “Having watched the financial situation take its toll on Naomi for several months, Judson and I were forced with a decision. Go down with the ship, or relieve the weight from the Captain?”
They went on to reveal that they decided to leave due to financial issues. Fair enough. They announced they had formed a CD/DVD duplication business several weeks earlier in order to relieve some of their own financial shortfalls since their work with the group wasn’t paying the bills. Again, fair enough. They went on to explain that they had given a five week notice to Naomi. They worked two of those weeks, and took off the next two when Naomi was scheduled to make appearances with the Golden Girls (the late Dottie Rambo and Lulu Roman). They were then shocked to learn their services would not be required for Memorial Day weekend. The press release concluded with a plug for their new CD/DVD duplication business, a plea to pray for Naomi to experience a “financial miracle” in order to stay on the road, and a plug for what was called the “final” Naomi & The Segos CD due to hit stores in June 2008.
Now, here’s where you learn the part Kemp and Horner didn’t tell you.
Kemp and Horner have filed Articles Of Organization in the state of North Carolina to create a limited liability company called “The Segos, LLC.” In addition to ‘helping’ Naomi by removing the financial stress of their paychecks, they evidently think the burden of the Segos name should be their own to bear. The date of this filing was April 28, 2008. This date curiously works out to just one week AFTER they gave Naomi Sego their five-week notice. Chuck Peters has a copy of the paperwork which you can see by clicking HERE.
Would someone please explain to me how on earth you resign from a group and then file paperwork to start a business using THAT GROUP’S NAME one week later? Then you have the audacity to issue a press release complaining about rumors and bringing up your unrelated CD/DVD duplication company when in fact, you’ve started a business attempting to continue making a living as The Segos? Those rumors that Kemp and Horner named in their press release are pretty mild compared to reality. I’d have let people go on thinking I’d left with no notice and trashed the bus if I was in the process of trying to take legal possession of the legacy of the Sego name after I’d already resigned.
One of my first jobs was delivering drinks for the Coca-Cola company. I worked for them a couple of summers. I wonder how far I’d have made it if I’d tried this stunt when I resigned my position. What’s sad is that if Naomi really is as financially strapped as she’s been made out to be, she may not have the means to challenge Kemp’s and Horner’s right to use the Segos name.
UPDATE (June 2, 4:29 PM): Susan Unthank helpfully points out that Kemp has issued a statement today. He and Horner have abandoned this LLC company and they’re in the process of canceling the paperwork they filed in April. It still isn’t entirely clear why this paper was signed after they’d submitted their notices. It still isn’t clear why someone told Naomi Sego she couldn’t bill herself as “The Segos.” Those rabbits aren’t worth chasing, in my opinion. This story is over.
