The George Foreman Interview

I had the privilege of interviewing George Foreman for a cover feature on entertainment attorney Henry Holmes for the 2005 edition of Southern California Super Lawyers magazine. Foreman, generous with his time and stories, was Holmes’ client on many fronts. Holmes negotiated sitcom deals for him, cleared a path for Foreman to fight for the heavyweight championship against Michael Moorer in 1994 at age 42, and—the biggest purse of all—negotiated a joint venture on something called “The Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine,” which subsequently became “The George Foreman Grill,” and which set home-shopping records. Foreman humorously recalled being against the deal at first—he wanted to be paid up front—but eventually realized its wisdom. When the company bought out Foreman’s share in 1999, it cost them an estimated $137.5 million.

Foreman died this past weekend, age 76. Here’s the 2004 interview, edited for clarity and brevity.

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Where did you meet Henry Holmes?

After the Holyfield fight was so popular, I was being called upon to do a sitcom, George, about my life and that sort. The people who were interested told me I should get an entertainment lawyer, and they introduced me to Henry Holmes. He helped me with the contract negotiations.

I was already signed with HBO, and I said, “You know what, this could be a little complicated. I’ll ask Henry if he could help me with it.” Then the Nike people called me. Then we had Doritos. They wanted to use the kids [in the commercial], and Henry said, “Why don’t you let me represent your kids? They can get paid for this, too.” I said, “You mean it?” That built the relationship, because he started bringing in money for the children.

What were the legal difficulties with the Michael Moorer title fight?

The fight wasn’t going through because one of the governing bodies decided, hey, they weren’t going to do it. They said, “No, we’re not going to sanction it.” I was down training in Malibu. I even got on the beach and ran to Henry’s house and we discussed it. “We gotta do something.” And that’s when I realized that fighting was about 30% fists and the other was going to be courts. Henry Holmes went to work for me, and that was the reason I got the chance to fight for the heavyweight title again.

Did you go to court with him?

Most of the trials were held in Las Vegas, and I sat right in on them.

Henry’s got this easygoing attitude about himself, he’s laughing and joking, but once he gets into that courtroom he turns into this focused, vicious fellow. He’s just as determined as George Foreman in the ring. You try to talk to him and he turns his attention away from you. He’s like, “Alright, George Foreman, sit here!” I’ve never seen a guy attend to his work like Henry.

When I won the [Moorer] fight, I took one of the gloves off right in the dressing room, and said to Henry, “Listen, this belongs to you. That big punch came not only from George Foreman but from the legal field.”

He was shocked. He understood the value. I think Henry still looks at that glove and understands how important his work was. I signed it for him and everything, even put a little note in there. It was right on the spot, I didn’t think it up, I had no plans to do it.

How did the George Foreman Grill come about?

Henry had a friend named Sam Perlmutter. He’s a good friend of mine now.

I’d been out making all these endorsements and really doing well with Kentucky Fried Chicken,  Doritos, Pepsi, you name it. Making a lot of money.

Henry said a friend said to him, “George is doing all these commercials and making these other companies popular, why doesn’t he get his own product?” And Henry came to me and explained [“The Lean Mean Grilling Machine”]. I said, “Yeah, Henry, how much are they going to pay me?” He said, “Nothing, George.” “Nothing?! All the money I’m making and I’m gonna do something for nothing?” And he said, “Yeah, but there’s a thing now called joint venture.” I said, “Joint nothing, I want money!” He said, “George, this may really work for you. … I’m gonna send you one, you try it.”

I had the grill in my house for months. The little thing. I looked at it. Finally I said, “I’m gonna try this thing.” My wife told me she’d already tried it. She told me “It’s really nice, makes the meat all juicy and everything,” and so I tried it and lo and behold it really did work. I called Henry and said, “How can I get a bunch of these?” Henry said, “Do you want the deal?” I said, “Yep.” He did the joint venture. Which made me part owner of the company. I didn’t expect any money out of it, I just wanted a whole shipload of those grills so I could ship them all over the country. So I could use them in my training camps.

Next thing you know? People are meeting me in the airport: “We love ya, George!” I’m thinking it’s because of my boxing matches. They said, “No, I love your grill!” And the word-of-mouth had those things selling. I got a check for about $3,500. I said, “What? Money for this?” A couple of months later, I got another check for $3,500.

And before you know it … the last boxing match I had was … ’97, I do believe. I lost the boxing match, and everybody came back to the dressing room to express how I was robbed. I had a big blown-up check that Henry had brought me from the grill company for $1 million for one month’s work. And I told them, “No, I have not been robbed. Where I came from, when you’re robbed, you don’t have any money left.”

Finally, because of that joint venture, when the people wanted to buy me out, they really had to pay a lot of money. And it got me out of just doing commercial endorsements. It put me into the business of becoming owners of companies.

I heard you officiated at his wedding.

It was in Tokyo. I think ESPN even filmed some of it.

I’ve done more weddings now than I’ve had boxing matches. I do it all the time. But it was really special for me and Henry, because I really spelled out to him that marriage was more important than just being a playboy. When the preacher says, “Is there anyone here who can see why these people should not be joined … LET ’EM SPEAK NOW!” I shouted it out so loud, it shocked everybody in the room. I was able to tie that knot so tight I think he was afraid to even tug at it.