Super Bowl Controversy: Sources say NAD tied by NDAs; Howard on leave; Alexis’ path to NFL
Alex: It’s been a month since the Super Bowl. NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum has not posted any kind of video or statement since he was last seen in the Super Bowl’s halftime ASL livestream.
I reached out to Howard asking if he could do an interview but got an automated out-of-office response.
I reached out to the NAD President and Vice-President to do a video interview to respond to several questions, but they said they’re unable to do an interview.
I’ve also reached out to Love Sign, owned by Alexis Kashar. They produced the ASL access component for the Super Bowl. I wanted to ask about the Super Bowl controversy but did not get a response.
I still do have plenty of information that I’ll share. I talked with more than one person in the Deaf community who are familiar with some of the things that have been happening with the NAD. They prefer to remain anonymous.
Here’s what I found.
The NAD Board recently held a meeting with state associations and NAD affiliates from across the country. The NAD Board received many complaints, questions, and concerns with the Super Bowl ASL access and its branding. The NAD Board told the state associations and affiliates that they are investigating.
NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum was recently placed on leave by the NAD Board. It appears to be administrative leave. This typically means that an organization or a company asks an employee to stay home and not come to the office for a period of time for various reasons. If this is true, it would explain why Howard has not posted any kind of public communication.
There appears to be a NDA (non-disclosure agreement) in place that may be causing complications between the NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum and the board. It is not clear if the NDA is between Howard and Alexis Kashar of Love Sign or Howard and the NFL or all three. But if Howard and the NAD are bound by an NDA agreement, that doesn’t bode well for transparency. I also learned that Deaf performers were asked to sign NDAs.
We can see a hint that there is an investigation and that there are NDAs in place from the NAD Board’s latest statement on Feb. 27. Here is an excerpt.
[Excerpt from NAD Board Statement on Feb 27, 2024]
Jenny Buechner, NAD President: Super Bowl LVIII and the days following should have been a celebration of our culture, our language, and making progress. This was not the case.
Stephanie Hakulin, NAD Vice-President: The NAD Board values transparency and has begun an intensive review into our advocacy of access to the Super Bowl and the NAD’s endorsement and conflict of interest policies. We are also looking at how we can ensure transparency while we honor contractual agreements that require confidentiality.``
Alex: Okay, so far, we know that Howard may be on leave, the NAD is possibly investigating its conflict of interest policies, and there may be a minefield of NDAs that is causing confidentiality concerns.
Now, I will shift the focus and share what I’ve learned about Alexis Kashar and her path to the NFL.
Before Alexis started her jewelry and apparel companies, she was an attorney that worked with the NAD as the Civil Rights Committee Chair. In 2011, Alexis was instrumental in getting an agreement with the NFL and 2011’s Super Bowl broadcaster, FOX, to ensure all commercials would be captioned.
[Screenshot showing NAD Announcement in 2011 with the headline, “NAD Commends NFL and FOX on Super Bowl XLV Captioning Milestone”]
Text excerpt: “While no law requires commercials or network promotions be captioned, the NAD advocates for full access to the entire television experience both on a voluntary basis and through new legislation. We applaud the extraordinary work of the NFL and FOX in getting all advertisers to agree to caption their commercials,” said NAD Civil Rights Committee Chair, Alexis Kashar. “The NAD will continue to work diligently on this important issue until the day Super Bowls are captioned from start to finish without exception.”
Alex: Alexis received a prestigious award from the NAD in 2018 that honored her work to connect the NAD with the NFL to elevate the use of Deaf performers.
[Facebook Post from NAD on Oct 31, 2018: “The Frederick C. Schreiber Distinguished Service Award was presented to Alexis Kashar, a civil rights attorney, at #NAD2018, for her commitment to the NAD in advancing civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf and hard of hearing Americans. She was instrumental in ensuring that the NAD became a partner with the National Football League (NFL) to elevate the use of deaf talent for American Sign Language (ASL) performances of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl! #awardspotlight”
Alexis stopped working with the NAD around 2019, but she continued to work with the NAD and NFL as some type of liaison, as she has done every year since. During that time, Alexis started her RosebyANDER luxury jewelry business. Then this year, she started Love Sign.
How Alexis found her connections to the NFL is not clear. But I’ve found that she benefits from a high-level network with wealthy and powerful people in the place she lives in New York. There was speculation that she has a family member who works for the NFL, but this isn’t accurate as far as I know. She was just able to network her way into the NFL, first using the NAD/Deaf attorney avenue, and then bringing her businesses into it.
Alexis’ father was a deaf businessman who made a fortune selling TTYs and flashing light kits to hotels and airports so they could comply with the ADA. The company is Krown Manufacturing.
[Image showing a Krown Manufacturing TTY]
So there is a background of making money from providing access. You could say it’s still going on with Alexis promoting her businesses on Deaf performers’ bodies.
Alexis has served on the board of the New York School for the Deaf, as known as Fanwood. I was told that she was a devoted board member who gave a lot of her time to the school.
Alexis often says she’s a civil rights attorney, but she’s not really involved — as far as I know — in any recent cases, in the past ten years. I did some research and saw that in 1994, Alexis worked to represent a Deaf woman in a lawsuit against Burger King for failing to make its drive-thru accessible. Also in 1994, Alexis represented a Deaf couple in a lawsuit against a hotel for failing to provide accessible accommodations. She also worked in cases against Weight Watchers and the Burbank Police Department for failing to provide interpreters. So a lot of her cases, including the NFL’s captioning commitment, came from many years ago.
The most recent “legal action” coming from Alexis is not a civil rights move but a business power move. I reported in 2022 that Alexis accused another Deaf-owned business of design patent infringement when they sold earrings with an ILY handshape that looked somewhat similar to Alexis’ RosebyANDER jewelry. The accusations of patent infringement caused significant controversy in 2022.
So all of this information helps us to understand who Alexis is and her path to the NFL. She’s clearly someone who can fight for access, but we don’t know her true priorities because she’s also trying to promote her private businesses and may be requiring people to sign NDAs to maintain her control. It’s vague.
-——
Sponsored video by Convo: www.convorelay.com
———
988 Helpline (Description)
Exciting News! The 988 Lifeline launched new American Sign Language services for callers who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. It’s a new resource for people to access help when they need it. Visit 988lifeline.org and select “ASL Now.”
———
[Advertisement from DeafTax] **HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT**
DeafTax now welcomes our very 1st CPA, Jacob Henderson, from Southern California as the newest Team member! We're thrilled to continue increasing the quality and value of our professional Tax & Accounting services for the Deaf community. Now that DeafTax has a CPA on the Team, who is fluent in ASL, we can provide the full range of tax & accounting services for individuals to organizations such as small businesses, non-profits, State Associations. Jacob's experience in the Interpreting and Real Estate industries will be very invaluable towards supporting Deaf professionals in these fields. Additionally, having Jacob on our Team helps us increase the capabilities of our staff and allows the opportunity for training and exposure for qualified Deaf candidates who are studying to pass the CPA license exam.
Last and most importantly, bringing Jacob on-board supports our mission of providing accessible financial services to the U.S. Deaf Community. Please comment and click 'Like' to welcome Jacob to DeafTax!
———
Now, let’s shift the focus to Howard. Is he someone who listens to community feedback about Super Bowl issues? My sources say not really.
In 2022, there was controversy over the Super Bowl’s ASL access. There were no PIPs for the national anthem. The halftime livestream was dark and many had issues with registering for an account with NBC Sports. Many were disappointed that the Deaf performers weren’t on stage.
According to my sources, when NAD members in 2022 voiced their concerns with Howard, they were shunned. Howard would become annoyed or irate with people who gave criticism or feedback. Howard seemed to take it personally.
Later that year, during the 2022 NAD Convention in Orlando, there was a sizable number of people in the Council of Representatives (COR) who made proposals for the NAD to focus on issues with the Super Bowl to make this a NAD priority. Those proposals did not pass the vote by the COR as a whole. Some felt intimidated by Howard’s presence during the COR meeting.
Some NAD members who pushed for changes with the Super Bowl noticed a change in Howard’s approach to them. They felt like Howard thought they betrayed him and attacked him. So this may be Howard’s mentality — if he’s seeing all the criticism on social media this year, he may be taking it personally. He might think that you hate him.
Is Howard even someone who hopes for a dedicated PIP or a split-screen for Deaf performers during the national anthem? Does he want that? We don’t know.
I reviewed an interview that Melmira had with Howard and Alexis in 2022 after that year’s Super Bowl. Look at what Howard said when Melmira asked about PIPs.
[Video clip from Melmira on Feb 21, 2022]
Melmira: Broadcast. When people watch the Super Bowl on TV.
Howard: I’m not aware of any Super Bowl that had PIP all the way. I don’t know of any.
Alex: Howard said he’s not aware of any previous Super Bowls where a PIP was shown all the way. That’s not true. The Facebook page “Lighteye” did some research and found that there were full PIPs in 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2000. I checked myself and here are the clips.
[Clips showing four Super Bowl performances with PIPs showing Deaf performers: 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2000]
Alex: Granted, some of the PIPs were blurry, but they were there and they were functional. So, Howard is clearly wrong about the history of PIPs.
Here’s one more thing I caught. Melmira asked Howard about Marlee Matlin’s performance in 1993 and it being shown on PIPs.
[Melmira clip]
Melmira: Many people brought up an old picture of Marlee with Garth Brooks right next to each other.
Howard: The camera still didn’t spotlight the signer all the way.
Alex: Howard dismissed her inquiry by saying Marlee wasn’t shown all the way. But when I checked, Marlee was shown all the way and was even sometimes doubly-showed.
[Clip of Marlee’s performance during the 1993 Super Bowl showing her featured both in a dedicated PIP and on the main broadcast]
Alex: So, it means that neither Howard nor Alexis seem to know the basic history of Super Bowl ASL broadcasts and that there were PIPs shown. This seems like a basic thing to be aware about, especially in their big responsibility to represent the Deaf community and their close proximity to the NFL.
I also want to mention here that in my interview with Congressman Joe Morelle of New York last week, he said it is absolutely possible for the NFL to demand broadcast networks like FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC to put a PIP or a split screen for Deaf performers.
[Excerpt from Congressman Morelle’s interview with Daily Moth.”]
Congressman Morelle: “They ought to have a standard in their contract with whoever is given the rights to broadcast the Super Bowl. That ought to be standard language for the NFL.”
Does Howard or Alexis carry the same view and stance? We don’t know. They may not even be fighting for a PIP, they may be telling the NFL that a separate livestream link is fine. I’ve noticed that they said in previous interviews and statements that a livestream is “cool” because it gives a full picture of the Deaf performer and they are not limited to a small PIP. But that’s just their view. Did they conduct a survey to see what the community wants? It seems like they decided for themselves.
We don’t know, Howard and Alexis haven’t said anything in public all this time.
The NAD Board hasn’t made a clear statement about whether it is going to demand the NFL and broadcast networks to create a dedicated PIP. It’s all vague, weak, and quiet. It’s not like the congressman’s strong statement.
There is an upcoming NAD Conference in Chicago this summer. The Kansas Association of the Deaf recently released an open letter saying the NAD has “drifted from its course”.
[Excerpt from Kansas Association of the Deaf’s letter on Feb. 26, 2024]
“The Kansas Association of the Deaf has noted with increasing concern that recent initiatives appear misaligned with the foundational mission of the NAD. Moves towards commercialism, such as promoting branded products, a cautious approach during Super Bowl events, and less transparent communication, have cast a dark shadow on AND’s role as a beacon for our community.”
Video clip of KAD Board Member Cameron Symansky: We have observed that the NAD has drifted from its course and needs to realign.
Video clip of KAD Board Member Jessica Schultz: The KAD plans to show up at the upcoming NAD Conference in Chicago. We plan to have a discussion on how the NAD can be rejuvenated and improved.
Alex: The KAD said they would attend the NAD conference in Chicago and would raise issues with the Super Bowl to the Council of Representatives. But we know what happened in 2022. Will the COR make it a NAD priority in 2024? Will Howard step up or step down? We’ll see what happens. The NAD Board said they would provide updates.
That’s all that I have to share for now.