Ohio-based sculptor Alan Cottrill had nothing good to say of the crypto bros behind the funding of gold-leafed statue of Donald Trump called “Don Colossus.”
“I usually deal with people that have everything organized. From the start, this was chaos,” Cottrill told the Miami New Times. “I have 400 life-size or larger statues around the country. The patron sets a date when they want it installed, and I have it installed on that date. And almost never, anytime whatsoever, does anyone miss a payment, because I always do what I say I’ll do, and the patron always does what they say they’re going to.”
But the Times reports that was not the case while working with the wealthy Trump backers behind the 22-foot statue of the president, what with demands to remove Trump’s “turkey neck” and make the statue skinner than Trump actually is—after already slimming it down once.
And don’t even talk about payment.
The Times reports Canadian-based cryptocurrency developer Ashley Sansalone and Republican strategist Dustin Stockton joined other “crypto bros” to pay Cottrill $500,000 for the creation of the statue. But somehow, between them all, nobody appeared to have money in their pockets when it came time to pay the bill. It took weeks for Sansalone and Stockton to make their final $90,000 payment.
Cottrill said he eventually had to hold the statue ransom to get his money.
“‘You were supposed to make these payments nearly a year ago. I can’t trust you to do that,'” Cottrill told his wealthy patrons, according to the Times. “So I held the statue. I put it in an undisclosed location and said it won’t be delivered until the final payments have been made.”
When asked if Cottrill would ever be willing to work with the Trump bunch again, he unleashed a response with plenty of expletives.
“Once somebody has shown that they can’t be trusted to do what they say,” he added, “you don’t work with them anymore.”
So, no work for the upcoming Trump Presidential Tower in Miami, for Cottrill, he said.
