This is Ian Michna—founder/owner of Jenkem; partner in the events that destroyed Marc Johnson’s career.
On May 12, 2016, adidas skateboarding’s "Away Days" video premiered, introducing beloved Marc Johnson to the team. The surprise elicited thunderous reactions from the crowd.
Shortly after the Jenkem/Carroll article released, Ian shared with me that within hours of the premiere, Mike Carroll, in an alleged substance-fueled rage, contacted him & said, "Turn on the recorder”, then threw his partially libelous tantrum over Marc’s appearance.
Ian then reverse engineered the crashout, misleadingly presenting it as an “update” from Mike centered around “The Future of Crailtap”.
But Mike’s motives gave Ian no pause. With zero concern regarding truth, fairness or ethics, Ian complied & enlisted—despite having no proof of Mike’s claims or verifying them with Marc before publishing on May 17, 2016.
The backlash was unlike anything the skate community had seen. Marc was burned at the stake, treated worse than rapist, abuser, white supremacist pros have ever been—the victim of unfathomable vitriol, harassment, death threats & industry exile while everyone, even his life-long friends—afraid of Mike—silently watched.
The MJ piece is one of the most clicked in Jenkem’s history. Ian’s a smug fuck like that too—the type of dude to grin ear-to-ear while telling you the drama he participated in benefitted him.
The irresponsibility of Ian’s actions cannot be overstated. In my 40 years ravenously consuming & studying skateboarding content (27 as a journalist), I’ve never witnessed a more deplorable, malicious, unwarranted act of media.
Where are the benefits of those clicks now? Jenkem publishes lazy, rote features online & has essentially been reduced to an Instagram account. Between the state of the skate industry & Jenkem’s sheer lack of importance, they are no longer a sustainable business.
A life was destroyed. The industry carried on supporting Jenkem like nothing happened. Marc is gone. Jenkem is worthless & dying. Everyone lost.
To this day, neither Ian, Mike, or Crailtap’s ownership have admitted any wrongdoing or made a statement of apology.
Fuck you, Ian.