In the wake of accruing over $200,000 in unpaid rent, MyPillow, led by Trump loyalist CEO Mike Lindell, was hit with a court-ordered eviction from its warehouse in Shakopee, Minnesota.
Details emerged as the landlord presented evidence of the company’s financial delinquency to a Scott County judge, who subsequently agreed to enforce the eviction.
However, it was amicable, Lindell said to Newsweek via phone call on Wednesday, adding that the situation was a little tricky. “The landlords said they’d rather foreclose … than [let] us go out and find another sublease here. And I said I agree.”
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
Lindell said the warehouse, which rents for $90,000 per month, hadn’t been used by MyPillow for a year and that the company has other facilities. Initially, a sublease agreement was in place with a new tenant planning to use the space for storing food. However, just two days before the scheduled move-in, the tenant withdrew, leaving MyPillow with a vacant and cleaned warehouse and on the hook financially.
“They came in to sublease for the remainder of the lease. We got the building cleaned because they were going to store sugar beets. And they backed out two days before they were moving in on March 1,” Lindell told Newsweek.
Lindell clarified MyPillow’s position regarding the financial responsibilities for the warehouse, indicating ongoing efforts to assist the landlord in finding a new sub-lessee and willingness to cover the financial gap. “We’re working with the Realtor,” Lindell said.
“We’re still going to help them get a sub-leaser. And then I just would have to pay the difference. That’s no big deal,” he said.
Despite Lindell’s relative nonchalance on the warehouse financial obligations, the eviction comes at a challenging time for the CEO, an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump and known for his outspoken election denialism.
Last month, a $5 million judgment was upheld against him over his persistent claims of election fraud, specifically an arbitration award to a computer forensics expert who debunked Lindell’s allegations of Chinese interference in the 2020 election.
Despite saying he will appeal, Lindell said to NBC News after the ruling that he doesn’t “have any money.” This follows the retail exodus that MyPillow saw after Lindell became the face of the 2020 election denial campaign, spending upwards of $40 million in efforts to back his stance, Newsweek previously reported.
High-profile retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s, H-E-B, and Wayfair have discontinued their relationships with MyPillow, and Walmart, although still offering MyPillow products online, has removed them from its brick-and-mortar stores.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.