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Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer and his wife threatened to dismember and kill a business partner, according to shocking court papers filed in California.
Warren Holmes, a British beauty product inventor and hairdresser whose clients have included members of the Royal Family, as well as Rihanna, Kate Moss and Sharon Stone, filed the lawsuit in April against the former Baltimore Orioles star Palmer.
The Orange County filing is a counterclaim, after Palmer, 80, and his wife Susan, 58, sued Holmes for allegedly lying to them and reneging on a $1 million loan.
'I have extensive documentation of their harassment, death threats, and sabotage, and I look forward to presenting this evidence in court,' Holmes told the Daily Mail.
In his legal filing in which he is asking for $20 million, he says the Palmers befriended him in 2015, invested $1 million in his haircare products company, but then became 'abusive' and subjected him to a 'systematic campaign of control and manipulation.'
Holmes claimed in his lawsuit that the pitcher's wife began sending him flirty texts, and ended up calling and messaging him more than 30 times a day – and even banned the 41-year-old from having girlfriends or tattoos.
MLB Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and his wife has been accused of waging a campaign of intimidation and 'control' by celebrity hairdresser business partner Warren Holmes
Palmer (right) said he and his wife Susan invested $985,000 in Holmes's business venture before their friendship went sour
Susan Palmer called Holmes by his nickname 'Wendell' in a text which he claims in his filing included a threat to dismember him into eight parts
The years-long 'abuse' allegedly escalated to the couple threatening to 'destroy his life,' with Holmes describing in his filing one September 2023 text from Susan – who nicknamed him 'Wendell' – as a 'death threat to dismember him' into '8 f**king parts.'
In his court filing Holmes alleged that Jim Palmer sent his brother a LinkedIn message in August 2023 saying he 'hired PIs to find' Holmes and warning 'I will find him and he will pay,' which he claimed constituted a direct threat to his 'safety and wellbeing.'
This followed 'disturbing demands' beginning in January 2023 for Holmes to get a life insurance policy naming the Palmers as beneficiaries, which they used 'for intimidation and control,' according to his lawsuit.
Holmes claimed the Palmers got him hooked on sleeping and pain pills, saying in his lawsuit that the three-time World Series winner 'illegally transported controlled substances across state lines to maintain this dependency, ensuring Mr Holmes remained under their influence.'
He claimed the Palmers kept him under control by threatening to have his visa revoked through Jim's friendship with President Donald Trump, allegedly telling Holmes: 'we will take your visa' and 'we own your a**.'
The celebrity hairdresser said he moved to the US on an O-1 visa, awarded for individuals with 'extraordinary talent.' His application included a personal letter of recommendation from career Grand Slam golfer Rory McIlroy, a client of Holmes.
Holmes even claimed Jim, who pitched for the Orioles from 1965 to 1984, met with Trump in March 2019 at his West Palm Beach golf club 'to discuss Mr Holmes' visa situation.'
Palmer and his wife Susan first invested in Holmes's haircare company in 2018
Brooke Shields is another of Holmes's notable celebrity clients
A condition of the visa was Holmes maintained a minimum salary from his company, Loved Brands. But he claimed the couple, who were board members of his company, withheld his pay then threatened: 'you are in breach of your visa for not taking your salary and we can get you kicked out of the country.'
The couple at first 'paraded' Holmes among their Palm Beach friends at parties attended by luminaries including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, actress Brooke Shields and tennis champion Martina Navratilova, he claimed in his lawsuit.
But in 2022 Holmes and the Palmers fell out. Holmes asked Jim to step down from the board of his company, and the Palmers 'responded by telling Holmes they would 'destroy his life,' triggering their campaign of destruction,' the haircare entrepreneur said in his lawsuit.
The Palmers' November 2023 lawsuit claimed their $985,000 contribution to Holmes's company was a series of loans, not an investment, which he failed to repay or use to create a successful business.
They accused him of a fraudulent scheme, claiming he misrepresented himself as a prominent hair stylist and built a friendship with their autistic son to gain their confidence.
The Palmers' lawsuit was reported in the New York Times in January last year.
Golfer Rory McIlroy submitted a personal letter of recommendation to support Holmes's application for a visa to work in the US
McIlroy called Holmes a 'visionary' with a 'stellar reputation' in his letter of recommendation sent to immigration authorities
Palmer's pitching helped the Orioles win the World Series in 1966, 1970 and 1983
Holmes shot back in his counterclaim, filing letters evidencing awards for his work, celebrity clients and role as creative director of top UK brand Nicky Clarke.
He claimed the Palmers repeatedly referred to themselves in writing as 'angel investors' and failed to respond to his repeated attempts to formalize their financial agreement in a signed contract.
'He and his wife executed exactly what they'd threatened for years: a systematic campaign to destroy my life, reputation and business,' Holmes told the Daily Mail, summing up his counter claim.
'I've been silent for two years out of fear for my safety and my family's safety, but their media campaign has left me no choice but to respond publicly.'
The Palmers' lawsuit is for breach of contract and fraud. Holmes's counterclaim is for 'intentional infliction of emotional distress,' civil harassment and defamation.
The Palmers initially got a default judgment against Holmes in their lawsuit, but representing himself without a lawyer he succeeded in having the judgment rescinded. The next hearing is in March.
Palmer was part of Baltimore's famed pitching trio in the 1970s along with Mike Cueller (left) and Dave McNally (center)
The court has not yet recognized Holmes's counterclaim as being served, the next procedural step for that case to go forward.
In his defamation claim, he alleged that the Palmers sent to another investor in Holmes's company a document titled 'The Grifter,' described in his lawsuit as 'a 146-page compilation of demonstrably false and defamatory claims.'
The other investor, British entrepreneur Mark Palmer – no relation to Jim – told the Daily Mail that he only had good experiences with Holmes, and was shocked when he received the 'Grifter' dossier containing claims he knew to be false.
'Reading what I've been provided by the Palmers, I was in disbelief at some of the allegations,' Mark Palmer said.
He said Jim and Susan Palmer claimed that Holmes had 'never been on TV, he doesn't work for Nicky Clarke, he's never won any awards.'
'But I'd seen him on TV, I'd seen stories in the press about him winning awards,' Mark Palmer said.
'The money I've spent has now been wasted, it won't come to fruition. But that isn't due to Warren's behavior. I thought he was impeccable.
'Hopefully he wins that case and he can move on with his life.'
Jim and Susan Palmers' lawyer, Michael Sklaire, told the Daily Mail that Holmes 'took advantage of a personal relationship with the Palmer family to fraudulently convince them to hand over a significant amount of money.'
'Instead of defending against those claims that were filed two years ago, Mr Holmes is now attempting to make unsubstantiated and wholly untrue claims to distract from the factual case against him,' Sklaire said.
'Mr Palmer looks forward to presenting those facts in court.'
