Martin Shkreli To Be Memorialized In Satirical Musical
Martin Shkreli will be memorialized in a satirical musical performance — if a theater group can raise enough money to fund the production. According to reports, the working title of the show is “Martin Shkreli’s Game: How Bill Murray Joined the Wu-Tang Clan.”
New York Post reports the production will include numerous songs, including “I’m Martin F***ing Shkreli And You Can All Go F**k Yourselves,” which poke fun at Martin Shkreli’s reputation as a ruthless entrepreneur.
According to reports, the production was inspired by Shkreli’s purchase of the Wu-Tang Clan album for $2 million and his refusal to share the album with the band’s fans. The musical also addresses unfounded rumors that Bill Murray joined forces with Wu-Tang Clan to “steal back the album.”
Shkreli gained worldwide attention last year when he acquired the rights of Daraprim, a drug used to treat life-threatening parasitic infections, then raised the price from $13.50 to $750 per pill. The situation was specifically upsetting because each pill costs only $1 to produce.
‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli’s story is becoming a musical https://t.co/4uZ1CiyPom pic.twitter.com/5a1z4LAtVz
— Fortune (@FortuneMagazine) June 8, 2016
The seemingly unwarranted price hike drew global outrage. Although he was not charged criminally for raising the price of the medication, the incident drew attention to Martin’s other business dealings.
In the last seven months, Martin Shkreli was charged with numerous criminal counts, including a charge of conspiracy — which was filed by Brooklyn prosecutors last week.
Pharma bro Martin Shkreli faces new charges https://t.co/qmucBduUVI pic.twitter.com/Rtat11dlKC
— The Hill (@thehill) June 5, 2016
Late last year, Martin was arrested and indicted for plotting to defraud Retrophin Inc., a pharmaceutical company, in a bid to cover up losses suffered by investors in his hedge fund. Shkreli was the chief executive of the pharmaceutical company at the time.
Evan Greebel, Shkreli’s former attorney, is also accused of a securities fraud conspiracy charge which alleges the 33-year-old concealed his ownership of Retrophin shares from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to the Wall Street Journal, prosecutors are saying Martin Shkreli hid his control of free trading shares by dividing them among seven contractors and employees to avoid a 5 percent ownership threshold that would have alerted the SEC.
Prosecutors are also alleging employees of the pharmaceutical company were instructed to transfer portions of their shares to help ease Shkreli’s debts.
The 33-year-old said he is innocent of all charges and refuted claims that he swindled his former company out of nearly $11 million. When the accusations first came to light, the Retrophin board voted to remove Shkreli and subsequently sued him for $65 million.
During Monday’s hearing, Shkreli’s legal team objected to the setting of a trial date, arguing that there are a number of outstanding documents that are needed to prepare for the case.
Martin Shkreli’s attorney Ben Brafman said “we are not looking to delay the process; we’re looking to be informed by the process.”
Greebel’s attorney, Lisa Rubin, agreed that more than 3 million documents need to be reviewed before a new trial date can be set.
U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto adjourned the hearing, asking all parties to be back in court on July 14. He said a potential trial date could be expected in early 2017.
Martin Shkreli, who kept quiet during the court proceedings, later bragged to customers at a Dunkin’ Donuts shop in Manhattan where he was live-streaming on Periscope. According to reports, he commended the judge for postponing his trial. “It went great, the judge b**ch-slapped the government again,” he said.
The publicity surrounding the accusations also led to questioning by a congressional committee. However, Martin Shkreli refused to testify, citing his Fifth Amendment rights. As reported by Daily Mail, Martin simply said his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, “needed to turn a profit on the drug” to stay in business.
Martin Shkreli has not commented on the musical production, which is expected to debut during the Midtown International Film Festival on July 19.
[Photo by AP Photo/Richard Drew]
