‘Locked us out’: Partners’ fury at Roxy Jacenko

Business partners of the PR maven are now in a war of words with Roxy Jacenko after a controversial competition spectacularly fell apart.

Two business people who spectacularly fell out with Roxy Jacenko are now in a furious war of words with the PR queen.

They have claimed she was “wrong” and her comments were “defamatory” after Jacenko announced in a social media video that she was backing out of a controversial multimillion dollar home competition ran by a company called ‘Roxy’s Bootcamp’.

The competition featured her name and image extensively, claiming you could win a house, when in fact, the prize was just entry into another competition.

“These videos are misleading and paint a completely inaccurate picture of our intentions,” Youssef Tleis and Kassim Alaouie wrote in a letter to subscribers of Roxy’s Bootcamp where they said they wanted to “set the record straight”.

The pair have a half stake in the Roxy’s Bootcamp firm alongside Jacenko. All three were directors.

The push back comes as Jacenko uploaded a second video to social media claiming she will personally refund from her own back account the fees paid by 7000 people to join Roxy’s Bootcamp, which gave them entry to the house competition.

She also told news.com.au she was “regretful” she had not been “100 per cent clear” on the rules of the competition after it emerged the winner wouldn’t get a house.

PR queen Roxy Jacenko. Picture: Supplied.

Controversial competition

Roxy’s Bootcamp, the website of which is emblazoned with images of Jacenko, is an online marketing course. The course price varied between $29 and $499 and included entries to a competition to win a “$10 million home” in the beachside suburb of Cronulla, in Sydney’s south.

It launched in a blaze of publicity on March 8 with Jacenko going on national TV stating “I’m giving away a $10 million home”.

Yet the terms and condition stated the winning prize wasn’t the deeds to the house at all but entry into another game of chance.

The odds of winning that second competition, and getting the house keys, was just one in 33,000.

A consolation prize, if the house wasn’t won, was $250,000 cash. A luxury bag and watch were also up for grabs.

It soon emerged the house didn’t belong to Jacenko but rather Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie. The Sunday Telegraph reported it was bought in 2020 for $3.4 million after it failed to sell at auction.

The newspaper also reported that Cronulla real estate agents had expressed doubts on whether the house would reach a $10m asking price.

Roxy Jacenko seen in social media post with Youssef Tleis and Kassim Alaouie seen promoting Roxy's Bootcamp. Picture Instagram

Jacenko’s claims

In a video uploaded on Friday night, Jacenko said she had now resigned as a director of Roxy’s Bootcamp.

She claimed there was a shortfall in the bank account that held the $250,000 consolation prize which she had topped up to the tune of $20,000.

Mr Tleis has denied the claims, telling the Telegraph there was a “surplus of funds”.

In explaining her decision to back out of the competition she said: “Unfortunately yet again, the goalposts have changed”.

“I have tried everything I can possibly do to ensure that I can maintain what I set out to do.

“But what I want you to know is I did my absolute best”.

Jacenko said she had become “distressed,” over the experience, had been fainting and her weight was now 49 kilos.

The Bootcamp website is heavily focused on Roxy Jacenko.

Business partners hit back

But in an email sent to Roxy’s Bootcamp subscribers on the weekend, Jacenko’s partners refuted many of her claims.

“Today’s email is one that we wish we did not have to write,” stated Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie, in an echo of Jacenko’s video on Friday where she said it was “one that I really didn’t think I’d ever have to do”.

“These videos are misleading and paint a completely inaccurate picture of our intentions and actions with regards to Roxy’s Bootcamp”.

They said they started the Bootcamp business with Jacenko, “in good faith”.

“Soon after, the relationship between (us) and Roxy deteriorated based mainly on a difference of opinions about how to market the promotion.

“This led Roxy, who I trusted as a business partner, to last month lock me out of the company’s (social media and shopping) accounts.

“After nearly going to court and hours of negotiations, we managed to settle things and decided to keep running the business together till (sic) the end of the promotion”.

But, they said, “the relationship has again declined”.

The house Roxy Jacenko spruiking in a giveaway that has raised concerns. Source: Core Logic

“Her accusations that we do not intend to give away the prizes or pay the guaranteed $250,000 prize are simply wrong and defamatory, and are extremely concerning to us.

“Just because she wants ‘out’ of this business does not mean that the public should not get the benefit of a prize draw they signed up for,” Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie wrote.

They added they had asked Jacenko to give them access to various online accounts associated with Roxy’s Bootcamp and said they hoped that they did “not need to again seek legal recourse”.

“Moving forward, we are committed to continuing this journey without Roxy, her brand, or her intellectual property.

“While it has been a distressing experience, we have learnt a lot (the hard way)”.

News.com.au has conatcted Jacenko for comment.

Roxy Jacenko posts bizarre late night video about the bootcamp competition

Jacenko: ‘I should have been clearer’

Jacenko told news.com.au that if she should have been clearer about how the prizes could be won.

“I personally wasn’t 100 per cent clear on the logistics of the house and I am regretful of that, and when I was and felt uncomfortable, I tried to halt the promotion.”

Jacenko initially sidestepped calls to refund those people who had signed up to Roxy’s Bootcamp in the hope of winning a prize telling news.com.au that as she was no longer a director she had “no power to do anything”.

But in a subsequent video, she said she would do exactly that refunding “7000 plus customers” out of her own bank account.

“I want to sleep at night and I want to know that I did what was right no matter what dispute within a business is going on.

“The general public should not be a victim of that,” she said.