What’s a RedFoo? Eight Things You Might Want to Know About Victoria Azarenka’s “Friend”

So, Victoria Azarenka is into the semifinals of the Australian Open after an impressive 7-5, 6-1 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova. And she’s not alone. The WTA’s No. 1 player has a friend in her box. A very famous friend. A very loud friend. A very loud, very famous friend. Okay, okay, so I think we’ve all come to terms with the fact that he’s more than a friend …

(Do yourself a favor and just skip ahead to 2:50 in that video. A NUMBER ONE special friend.)

So here’s the thing fellow hardcore tennis fans. I’m a bit perplexed by this relationship. I joke and jest and snark, and I’m not alone. We all snark. A lot. But … I don’t know anything about RedFoo or LMFAO or how much the party is rockin. I am not “in the know.” I know he’s famous and that he loves tennis and that he has a tennis tournament in Vegas. But that’s it. So, I figured I would take one for the team. I’ve spend 15 minutes on his Wikipedia page and on Google and I now consider myself a RedFoo expert. This is not me judging. This is not me snarking. This is me educating. So here’s what I have learned:

1. He is 37 years old. Vika is 23. (Not judging.)

2. His dad is Berry Gordy Jr., who founded the Motown record label, which means he is a super important person and also super rich. Redfoo grew up in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California. Swanky. This means he can likely afford any kind of clothes he wants! (Not. Judging.)

3. His real name is Stefan Kendal Gordy. So how in the world did he get the name RedFoo? I’ll let him tell you.

“It comes from having red hair, and people were always saying things like ‘You’re a fool, Red!’ So I changed it around, and took off the ‘L.’ I didn’t want to be a fool. I wanted something more majestic, like a foo. It’s magical.”

4. He went to high school with will.i.am (who I have heard of) and someone named GoonRock (who I have not heard of). I’m suddenly aware that everyone in my high school had super boring names.

5. LMFAO is a duo he founded in 2006 that sold a lot of records. Sky Blu is his 26-year-old nephew and partner in the group, which is on a hiatus right now, I think. Anyway, I don’t care so much about all of that. What I do care about is the fact that his nephew Sky Blu was in a fight on a plane with Mitt Romney. This entire article is really worth a read, but here’s an excerpt.

If Romney had asked nicely, Blu said he might have put his seat up, but since he was so rude … Well, next thing you know, Blu said Romney reached out and put his hand on his shoulder and asked him again to put his seat up. Blu said he knocked Romney’s hand away, thinking nothing of it. “His wife screams. … They’re getting loud, so then the flight attendant comes over, and I try to get louder than them to plead my case. ‘No, the man assaulted me! I was protecting myself!’ I might have thrown a few cuss words in there.”

6. “LMFAO has said that its original name was the SexiDudes and that the two subsequently changed it at the advice of their grandmother.”

ALSO:

‘LMFAO’ is a common Internet slang abbreviation for ‘Laughing My F—ing Ass Off’, in this case it is said by Hollywood Reporter to stand for ‘Laughing My Freaking Ass Off’ (as the U.S. Trademark Office would not allow them to trademark a name containing the word ‘f—ing’) or according to the BBC, ‘Loving My Friends And Others.'”

7. RedFoo used to be a day trader. He’s been on CNBC.  He did not wear a suit.

8. JJ had her shot first. Oh my goodness. 

So, there you have it. What do you guys think of RedFoo? Do you have any other facts to share with the group? Let’s get through this together. Everybody just have a good time.


Lindsay is an author, a filmmaker, a long-winded blogger, and a huge tennis fan.

15 Responses

  1. Nicole
    Nicole January 23, 2013 at 12:55 am |

    Lindsay, I must apologize. I just KNEW you were going to write this and I was… let’s say, not looking forward to it. But this was kind of fun, and I know you took a major bullet for all of us, and I appreciate it.

    Also, am I the only one who thinks that Redfoo and JJ would have made perfect sense?! I still don’t really get him and Vika, but Redfoo & JJ, sure. lol

  2. Karunya
    Karunya January 23, 2013 at 1:51 am |

    “LMFAO has said that its original name was the SexiDudes and that the two subsequently changed it at the advice of their grandmother.”

    How is this possible? If RedFoo is Sky Blu’s uncle, how do they have a common grandmother?

  3. Dan
    Dan January 23, 2013 at 2:54 am |

    Apart from the colour, RedFoo’s hairstyle is surprisingly similar to Serena’s, although obviously in a different colour. I wonder what a psychiatrist might say about Vika choosing a partner whose most distinguishing physical feature is similar to that of her greatest rival?

  4. Jeppe
    Jeppe January 23, 2013 at 3:36 am |

    I take some comfort from the fact that underneath the silly RedFoo mask, there’s a California dude named Stefan, who has made a legit amount of money, is a huge tennis fan, and is in love with Vika. He might be cool.

  5. Henk
    Henk January 23, 2013 at 9:04 am |

    >His dad is Berry Gordy Jr., who founded the Motown record label,

    Ohhhhhhhh

    I was wondering why everyone was humoring this tool. Suddenly everything clicks into place.

    1. midsun
      midsun January 27, 2013 at 2:28 pm |

      Astute comment.

  6. Mascha
    Mascha January 23, 2013 at 9:40 am |

    I really don’t get this hate for Redfoo from parts of the tennis community. Don’t like his music? Fine, that’s anyone’s prerogative. Don’t listen to it. He’s sold plenty of records, so there must be enough people out there who do like his music. I’m sure there are tennis fans out there who don’t like Gavin Rossdale’s music, but I’ve never see this level of derision aimed at him whenever he appears in Federer’s box.
    Don’t like the way he dresses? He’s not hurting anyone, let him dress the way he likes. Let him make up some name for himself. Why care? He’s not some Neo-Nazi. He doesn’t beat up Vika. Why this need to be so judgemental?
    He’s obviously serious in his love for the WTA (which, coming from a guy is a minor miracle in itself) and his love for Vika (I found the radio interview terribly endearing)
    Sure, he invites snark and making fun with his whole persona, but can we please keep it on the right side from needless hating on the guy?

    PS Not aimed at you personally, lindsay, but it can get pretty uncomfortable on my TL whenever Redfoo is around and everyone seems to feel the need to make their dislike/hate/contempt for him clear, so stating this in general.

    1. Amy
      Amy January 23, 2013 at 3:46 pm |

      Great points. Important to remember all of this. Thanks.

    2. Aysha
      Aysha January 26, 2013 at 4:49 am |

      I guess the “hate” is perhaps his “baby babies” persona. A 37 year old whose twitter timeline reads like a 12 year old girl is hardly endearing. Everyone has the right to be the person they want to be but similarly it’s legitimate to not be a fan of a personality/persona. It’s hard to tell if he’s really like that or if it’s all an act. I think given his pronouncements on twitter, in interviews, his t-shirts and in-the-box antics, it’s not unwarranted that some tennis fans are rather sick of him. Novak’s family got ridiculed for their t-shirts right? What’s the difference here?

      Gavin Rossdale wasn’t sitting next to Federer at his slam press conferences (yes, Redfoo was at a post-match presser at the USO and even answered questions!). He wasn’t touted by the ATP as some celebrity who was endorsing/a fan of their tour. Essentially, he was quite easy to ignore if you wanted to.

      As for his love for women’s tennis — do we applaud every other female tennis player’s boyfriend/friend’s appearance at their matches as a love for women’s tennis? Clearly the initial Redfoo/WTA interactions were mutually beneficial and/or negotiated as an arrangement perhaps in a similar manner to how Trump turned up in WTA ads. I don’t doubt Redfoo has an interest in tennis, given his own background in it. But I don’t see him as some lone voice amongst men, an avid WTA fan, that must be heralded either.

      1. Mascha
        Mascha January 26, 2013 at 9:37 am |

        If you don’t like him, why would you follow his twitter? As long as it’s not offensive, why care if he tweets immaturely? Anyone is free to dislike his music/persona but I don’t understand this need to be so vocal about it. It feels like everyone needs to get their hate on record to be considered a ‘cool’ tennis fan nowadays. And there’s a difference between ridicule (which, occasionally, I found excessive even directed at Novak’s parents) and blanket disdain.

        My paralel with Gavin Rossdale is that whenever Redfoo is shown in Vika’s box, people go out of their way to express their dislike of his music, irregardless of the fact that his music is not at issue at that point; it’s a tennis match. Whereas Rossdale’s music is rarely commented upon, no matter how many times he’s shown in Fed’s box.
        I agree he shouldn’t be in her pressers, but that goes for every celeb/non-player cameo. That’s just weird and unprofessional. But the ATP like their celeb endorsements as much as the WTA does. I don’t see the WTA specifically touting him more so than the ATP does with ATP celeb fans. The overwhelming attention Redfoo gets is almost all from tennis fans and commentators, and is understandable considering he is a celeb musician *and* dating the number 1 WTA player (and the above mentioned phenom of hating-on-redfoo is almost mandatory to show you’re following tennis). But that’s not the same as being officially ‘sanctioned’ by the WTA. You can hate the attention he gets, but I get really uncomfortable when that is equated to hating him personally, which is what’s happening a lot.

        Unlike most HABs of WTA players, Redfoo’s interests in women’s tennis go a lot further than dating Azarenka (the ITF tournament/coaching). So I think it’s safe to say he has a genuine and general appreciation of the WTA, even before Vika (or JJ).

        1. Aysha
          Aysha January 27, 2013 at 1:39 pm |

          I don’t hate him. The only music of his I know is a couple of the most popular songs only, so I couldn’t really comment on that. I’m not defending every comment that is made about RedFoo and certainly not suggesting people should be hating him. I just think it’s not the same as the Rossdale situation, if only because Rossdale isn’t at every Federer match in a slam, at the afterparty, at the interviews etc. RedFoo is far more pervasive and difficult to ignore even if you wanted to!

          Personally I just find his presence at matches a bit irritating – the constant shirt changes advertising his songs, the “crew” around him etc. I’d rather the camera wasn’t focusing on him all the time and the commentators didn’t feel the need to discuss him so much. That said, I don’t vocalise it as you’re right, many people do. I’m just presenting the alternative point of view that RedFoo’s treatment by the “fandom” isn’t that different to many other’s in the tennis world – the ridiculing of Becker and his tweets; Chris Evert & her commentating etc.

  7. MattV
    MattV January 26, 2013 at 6:55 am |

    Dont get the hate…I think the guy is a tool and his music sucks, but I also found it very nice and endearing the way he talked about Vika and being in love – so I suggest lay off the guy, he’s actually a pretty subdued, quiet fan too, considering his appearance!

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