Other celebrities that appeared in front of the 13,000 audience members included Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Tom Hanks, Maria Shriver, Maya Angelou, Dr. Phil, Nate Berkus, Kristen Chenoweth, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Dr. Oz, and Michael Jordan.

One of the most memorable moments was when Oprah’s partner of 25 years, Stedman Graham, who rarely makes appearances, took the stage and spoke. He said of Oprah “I’m so proud of you and your success. The show has been No. 1 for 25 years, which is a credit to you and your team and millions of viewers around the world. This is amazing. It amazes me to be around a woman who changes lives everyday and takes her own lunch to work. I love you for making a difference in my life.”

The shows will air on May 23 and 24 with the last show taping next week and airing on May 25.

Oprah Tapes Last Episodes

At the core of the pending lawsuit is the assertion that the stores employed fraud, deceptive trade practices, and unfair competition in using the images without prior approval or agreement. While some may consider this overstated, if Jordan did not officially agree to endorsing the stores, the stores would not have proper authorization to use his image. This is true whether the stores intended to do so or not.

The action of filing a lawsuit will surely dissuade others from using Jordan’s image without permission. More than likely, this is the purpose behind the suit.

The grocery stores issued a congratulations to Michael Jordan for being inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame. However, the suit states they went too far. According to the suit, Jordan is suing each store for $5 million each for being featured in ads promoting their products. Dominick’s Finer Foods, also, included a coupon for $2 off their Rancher’s Reserve Steaks. Jordan states he knew nothing of the ads and has already lent his name to his restaurants and other companies.

The Jewel’s ad featured Jordan’s likeness and included their slogan at the end of the ad.

The suits states these were “unauthorized” and “misleading” to the public.

Michael Jordan sues grocery stores

But when an imposter stepped onto the court, the crowd booed furiously. In an attempt to subdue the angry crowd, cheerleaders threw free t-shirts into the stands, but irritated fans threw them right back.

Brandt Andersen said:

If you were at the game tonight I hope you had fun. This was done in fun. If you did not see it as fun or you feel we went over the top I am sorry.

Let me step back a little and explain how some of this came about. At the beginning of the season we decided this was going to be a season of fun. The economy has made things tough for a lot of people and we wanted to find ways to have fun, at least for a few hours. On the court we want to win, but off the court we are going to embrace the fact we are a minor league team, and therefore do crazy fun promotion in the hope to get people talking about the team.

Since putting out the challenge to B Russ and MJ and the charity of their choice we have tried to put the pressure on MJ to join us. I even told them if they did not want Michael to play they could promote the potential for another event just by having him here. I knew I would not know if MJ was going to attend until a few hours before game time. I never received the call indicating he would not attend. Which was to be expected with the mighty Air Jordan.

In every interview I said if Jordan did not show we would have a backup that would be entertaining. I promised it would be worth attending. So as a backup, we hired a Michael Jordan lookalike. It was always in the plan to put him out in the community whether or not MJ showed. We wanted to test the strength and effectiveness of viral media by putting him out in Provo with bodyguards, and some hype. I always assumed it would be uncovered very quickly that it was a hoax. In reality, the lookalike is only 6’1 so it was not hard to disprove.

If you were offended by the stunt I sincerely apologize. Good or bad I hope it got you talking. I hope you were entertained. If not the comments section is below, feel free to blast away.

Again, if you were offended please accept my apologies. Like you, I was let down. I wanted MJ to show up. I had substantial hope that he would. As an apology we will honor those tickets from tonight for any other Flash game during the season. If you threw your ticket away call the office and we will take care of you. I’m very sorry we disappointed you.

Michael Jordan Look-A-Like Hoax Angers Fans

The aspiring basketball player decided to wear a pair of the now famous “Air Jordans” during a game.

Reports suggest the University of Central Florida player insisted on wearing a pair of white Air Jordans during an exhibition game Wednesday nght.

The shoes had no prominent logos and were worn  along with Adidas ankle supports.

Adidas spokeswoman Andrea Corso said in an e-mail to the Orlando Sentinel, “The University of Central Florida has chosen not to deliver on their contractual commitment to adidas. As a result we have chosen not to continue our relationship with them moving forward.”

In response, UCF Athletics Director Keith Tribble said late Wednesday that he did not know the Adidas agreement was official.

“There’s really not much I can say because I don’t know anything about it and have not heard anything official from adidas about our agreement,” Tribble said. “As I said before, we spoke with adidas officials throughout this process and were continuing contract negotiations with them. I have not seen anything in writing or heard directly from adidas about a change in our relationship.”

Jordan's Son & Nike Equal $3-Million Deal Buster