Discovery Channel officials have gone dark, maintaining radio silence over the fate of Joseph Teti, even as support for the "Dual Survival" reality show co-star continues to erode.
Cabela's hunting and sporting goods chain, one of Teti's main sponsors, cut ties with him over the weekend.
Since joining "Dual Survival" last year, Teti had become the centerpiece for Cabela's special events. As recently as Sept. 16, he was booked by the chain for the grand opening of a store in Oregon.
The move comes in the wake of the Special Forces Association publicly disavowing Teti last week and amid a growing chorus of detractors calling on Discovery to fire him. The association's leaders decided to strip Teti of his membership after some two dozen current and former Special Forces soldiers came forward with allegations of misconduct against Teti.
"In light of the Special Forces Association's revocation of Joe Teti's membership, Cabela's has ended its association with Teti," the chain said in a brief statement on its Facebook page.
The "Special Forces Poser Patrol" added Teti to its "Wall of Shame" around the same time.
"So Discovery, are the Pink Slips being handed out asap?" reads one of many of comments calling for Teti's ouster on the "Dual Survival" Facebook page and other online outlets.
Discovery officials, however, aren't saying anything. Repeated calls, emails and texts from Military Times also have gone unanswered.
And now Casio, another Teti sponsor, is considering breaking ties as well.
"It's under review," says David Johnson, vice president of Casio's timepiece division. "We are aware of the stuff that's come out. The timing is unfortunate because we just started this relationship with the guy."
The watchmaker signed Teti in August to help promote its new line of Pro Trek watches.
"We're gathering as much information as we can, and we'll make a decision in the very near future," Johnson tells Military Times.
Meanwhile, Teti is firing back at his critics.
In a long statement posted on his official "Dual Survival" Facebook page, Teti responded to claims that he had falsified or inflated his military résumé.
"I take my service to our country very seriously and I challenge anyone to produce substantiated evidence that I am a Stolen Valor candidate," Teti writes.
According to the biography on his personal website, Teti "is a former Force Recon Marine, Army Special Forces 'Green Beret,' and a former operator in a highly classified government counter-terrorist unit."
Teti has been the focus of criticism since joining "Dual Survival" last year. He replaced David Canterbury, another Army veteran, who was fired from the show after allegations surfaced that he had lied about some of his military qualifications.
While Canterbury later apologized to his fans, Teti is offering no signs of surrender.
Critics say Teti has claimed sniper and combat diver qualifications he never earned, while also calling himself a "combat veteran" even though he never served in a combat zone while in the military.
"I have never commented nor have I posted in any media information pertaining to medals I have or don't have, or service that I did or did not perform. I do call myself a combat veteran, which I am, and this has been used by some to discredit me and make it appear I am a person of Stolen Valor," he wrote.
Teti also downplayed the Special Forces Association's decision to revoke his membership, writing that the group "is not part of or connected to the U.S. Army Special Forces."
"My membership expired with this organization and I have recently been informed that I am ineligible to renew," he writes. ■
