Peter Angelos’ spouse Georgia on Wednesday grew to become the newest and arguably most vital voice to weigh in on the facet of her son, John Angelos, as the top of the Orioles, pushing again towards a lawsuit filed final week by her different son.
With household patriarch and O’s proprietor Peter Angelos ailing and now not managing his holdings, Louis Angelos, 52, sued his older brother and mom final week over what he mentioned have been John Angelos’ efforts to grab management of the workforce and different belongings.
However in an announcement the Orioles launched Wednesday, Georgia Kousouris Angelos asserted her function because the voice of her husband and solid assist to older son John, 54.
“I, alone, have the authority to handle the household’s belongings and make selections,” Georgia Angelos mentioned.
“Since I appointed John Angelos as chairman and CEO of the Orioles in 2020, he has led the group thoughtfully and successfully, together with by way of unprecedentedly difficult occasions,” the 80-year-old household matriarch mentioned. “John has my full religion, in addition to the belief and confidence of Main League Baseball.”
Peter Angelos, now 92, had designated his spouse to behave on his behalf, in response to an influence of lawyer switch that was among the many paperwork Louis Angelos included when he filed his lawsuit. The doc, signed in October 2017 as Peter Angelos’ well being started deteriorating, mentioned that ought to his spouse now not be able to managing her affairs, the ability of lawyer would go to the couple’s two sons, performing “collectively or individually.”
Within the lawsuit filed in Baltimore County Circuit Courtroom final Thursday, Louis Angelos mentioned his mom needed to promote the Orioles, including credence to a rumor that has lengthy swirled across the workforce, notably within the wake of Peter Angelos’ exit from its helm.
The lawsuit mentioned John Angelos “has executed all the pieces in his energy to stall and, finally, thwart plans to promote the membership,” single-handedly torpedoing “one extremely credible group of consumers.”
The swimsuit strengthened one other rumor with an inference that John Angelos’ consolidation of management over the workforce may permit him to maneuver the workforce to Tennessee, the place he lives in Nashville along with his nation music singer-songwriter spouse.
However on Monday, John Angelos denied the Orioles have been going wherever. In an announcement additionally launched by the workforce, John Angelos repeated a previous assertion that the O’s will stay in Baltimore “so long as Fort McHenry is standing watch over the Interior Harbor.” The assertion was silent as regards to promoting the workforce, because it was on the truth that his brother had sued him.
However Georgia Angelos’ assertion started by denouncing “the false and painful claims which were alleged within the lawsuit that my son, Louis, has introduced towards me and my older son, John.
“I need to set the document straight,” she mentioned.
Moreover, the Maryland Stadium Authority, the workforce’s landlord at Camden Yards, advised The Baltimore Solar that it acknowledged John Angelos because the workforce’s CEO. Citing their “wonderful working relationship,” the authority mentioned it was persevering with negotiations with John Angelos on a brand new lease to maintain the Orioles on the town.
The workforce is in its remaining yr of a lease that features a clause that expressly bars “the relocation of the Baltimore Orioles Main League Baseball Staff from Baltimore, Maryland,” candy phrases in a metropolis haunted by its loss on a snowy evening in 1984 of the beloved Colts soccer workforce.
At challenge now’s $600 million in bonds that the Normal Meeting approved and Gov. Larry Hogan signed into legislation for enhancements to Camden Yards, together with the identical quantity for Ravens Stadium. No bonds could be issued with no lease, and the lease should run lengthy sufficient to repay the bonds with the longest time period.
Whereas there is no such thing as a assure a brand new lease would comprise the identical no-relocation clause as the present one, the stadium authority mentioned such clauses are frequent in comparable agreements. The lease phrases would apply to the brand new proprietor ought to the membership be bought, in response to the authority.
The household fireworks have generated a lot consideration, as Orioles Nation speculated on what it means for the workforce, who for all its shedding methods in recent times manages to maintain its grip on native hearts.
Georgia Angelos famous her deep roots on the town, saying she was “born and raised in Northeast Baltimore, inside strolling distance of Memorial Stadium, and attending metropolis public colleges: PS 50, PS 49 and Jap Excessive Faculty.
“I attended the primary Orioles Opening Day in 1954,” she mentioned, occurring to credit score her husband and his companions for restoring native possession after they purchased the workforce 4 a long time later. That averted, she mentioned, “the fixed risk of relocation that had taken the Colts away from Baltimore.
“Any suggestion that Peter, John, or I might discover shifting the membership is fake and deliberately divisive,” she mentioned.
Followers ought to really feel reassured by the assertion, mentioned Alan M. Rifkin, the previous outdoors counsel to the Orioles.
“She is and all the time has been a pillar of honesty and sincerity,” he advised The Solar. “The general public and Orioles followers ought to take nice consolation in her persevering with dedication to the town.”
Georgia Angelos’ assertion rejects the allegations made by Louis Angelos in his swimsuit. He describes his brother as plotting to do away with legal professionals and workforce officers who have been loyal to his father and changing them with “sure males” who would permit him to exert complete management. To try this, the swimsuit alleged, he intimidated and confused his mom and acquired her to comply with amendments to the belief that Peter Angelos created for his holdings.
Louis Angelos’ lawyer, Jeffrey E. Nusinov, beforehand decried John Angelos’ assertion, through which John Angelos mentioned he “was appointed Chairman and CEO in response to my dad and mom’ expressed needs.” Nusinov didn’t reply Wednesday to a request for remark.
The swimsuit additionally claimed John Angelos co-opted a lawyer, Chris Jones, into working solely for his fairly than the household’s pursuits. John Angelos’ spouse, Margaret Valentine, took Jones’ daughter, an aspiring country-singer, below her wing, which resulted in her getting her gigs to carry out in Camden Yards.
However Georgia Angelos defended Jones’ “professionalism and integrity,” saying he was a buddy and invaluable within the household property and Orioles’ planning.
“Chris and his household in addition to my son, John, and his household are owed an apology,” she mentioned.
She additionally expressed remorse to the Orioles workers and, “most significantly, devoted Orioles’ followers,” over the general public airing of a battle inside her usually non-public household.
“I’ve all the time believed,” she mentioned, “that household disputes and considerations ought to stay amongst members of the family.
“I look ahead to placing this matter behind us all.”
Baltimore Solar reporter Jeff Barker contributed to this text.
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