EP 143 | The Lost Jordy Smith Movie & $500K Lawsuit | Pinch My Salt
Jordy Smith joins Sterling Spencer and Cousin Ryan on Pinch My Salt for an unreal conversation about professional surfing, the WSL Championship Tour, Kelly Slater, Dane Reynolds, Andy Irons, Billabong, Nike, O’Neill, Modern Collective, South African surfing, J-Bay, the North Shore of Hawaii, surf movies, sponsorship deals and one of the craziest untold stories in surf history. Jordy Smith is a World Junior Champion, X Games gold medalist, two-time World Title runner-up, Olympian and one of the longest-running surfers in modern Championship Tour history. In this episode, Jordy opens up about growing up in South Africa, becoming one of the most hyped young surfers in the world, being called “the next Kelly Slater,” traveling and surfing with Sterling Spencer as teenagers, competing against Kelly Slater, his legendary Modern Collective section, Dane Reynolds, the golden era of surf films and what professional surfing was really like behind the scenes. But the wildest story might be Jordy Smith’s LOST SURF MOVIE. Jordy and Sterling spent months traveling through South Africa, the Maldives, Australia and beyond filming what was supposed to become Jordy’s breakout surf movie. Then his relationship with Billabong fell apart, the hard drives disappeared, Jordy says he spent nearly 10 YEARS trying to track down the footage—and he still hasn’t seen it. Then came the $500,000 lawsuit. Jordy talks about being a young rookie, coming from very little money in South Africa and suddenly facing a lawsuit so massive that his parents were considering selling their house and cars. It’s an incredible look behind the curtain at the surf industry during one of its biggest eras. We also get into: Jordy Smith vs. Kelly Slater and whether Kelly was ever overscored The Jordy Smith vs. Dane Reynolds era Modern Collective and Jordy’s insane surfing in 2010 Why Jordy turned down Nike 6.0 Flying to Nike headquarters on Phil Knight’s private plane The truth behind the Michael Jordan rumors O’Neill, DVS and huge surf sponsorship deals Growing up surfing South Africa and Hawaii’s North Shore J-Bay and Jordy’s rise through professional surfing Andy Irons and the legendary Billabong surf team Mikey February and South African surf culture Why the surf industry changed Core surfing vs. mainstream surfing Surf shops, local shapers and the old surf industry Jordy’s plans after the Championship Tour Chasing undiscovered waves around the world The origin story of “YOU KNOW THE RULES” And why Jordy might be one of the funniest surfers alive. This is one of those episodes where surf history, surf culture and stories from professional surfing collide. If you grew up watching surf videos, following the ASP / WSL World Tour, watching Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, Dane Reynolds, Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, Jordy Smith and the generation that defined modern surfing, you’re going to love this one. Leave Jordy some love in the comments and tell us: WHERE IS THE LOST JORDY SMITH FOOTAGE? Subscribe to PINCH MY SALT for more long-form surf interviews, surf history, surf culture, comedy, professional surfing stories and conversations with some of the biggest names in surfing. #JordySmith #Surfing #PinchMySalt #WSL #KellySlater #ProfessionalSurfing #SurfPodcast #SurfCulture #DaneReynolds #ModernCollective Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
