‘Shark Tank’ Season 11 Episode 14: Mr Wonderful Kevin O'Leary called out for classless 'cockroaches' comment
Kevin O’Leary aka Mr Wonderful is a popular face of the business fraternity and a regular shark on the panel of 'Shark Tank'. For 11 years and counting, the investor and serial entrepreneur has struck profitable deals with budding entrepreneurs and supported their businesses. Some of them are even successful establishments now.
However, it appears that Mr Wonderful is not that wonderful to people all the time. He can be quite critical and harsh, as fans have often pointed out.
Particularly in Episode 14 of Season 11 of the reality show, he was seen making derogatory comments on the entrepreneurs of Pair Eyewear, who had come to pitch their business of interchangeable eyeglasses. He apparently called them "cockroaches".
Some fans on Twitter took offense to this and one of them commented, "It's amazing how tone-deaf and oblivious @kevinolearytv is after all these years. How does he expect folks to want to partner with him when he insults them on their very first meeting? It's tacky, classless, and unnecessary. Do better. #SharkTank”
"Mr Wonderful NanaComb has a deal for you. And no, we are not a cockroach. Be nice!" said another.
One Twitter user, however, pointed out, "When you go on #SharkTank you're basically pimping your product." While this might be true, people believe that there are ways to comment on people's efforts.
People have been commenting and replying to the shark on his Twitter handle and he also responded, saying, "'NO DEAL' doesn't always mean bad product or idea, it means 'BAD DEAL'. I see plenty of products on this show that I'd love to invest in at a *FAIR VALUATION*. When the entrepreneurs won't budge on that, there's nothing to be done!"
However, this did not pacify people and a fan further criticized O’Leary's comments saying, "It's not entertaining. It's cringey and unnecessary. There are other/better analogies to use. All involved know it's a show, so no need for antics like that. He can play 'the bad shark' without being a bully."
‘Shark Tank’ Season 11 airs every Friday night at 8 pm/7c on ABC.