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by Christian Duque<\/em><\/p>\n Yes, unfortunately the great Nick Walker dubbed \u201cThe Mutant\u201d for carrying darn near 300lbs of muscle, has blocked your ole buddy Christian Duque, for being an objective journalist. In all my years covering bodybuilding, I could count the top pro\u2019s that have blocked me on one hand. There\u2019s Phil Heath, and there\u2019s Nick Walker. No other top bodybuilder has ever done that. And believe you me, there\u2019s bodybuilders that I\u2019ve grilled, I mean really put on the spot, but none have blocked me. I have been blocked by other top bodybuilders, but many years after their best years were behind them. And even these grumpy has-beens don\u2019t keep me blocked for long. Take Lee Priest, for example, he not only can\u2019t keep me blocked for long, but every so often, he\u2019ll unblock me and like a bunch of my posts.<\/p>\n The fact is, you shouldn\u2019t block the press. If you\u2019re to be any kind of a public figure, especially a champion, you can\u2019t tune out everyone who doesn\u2019t blow your head up and\/or people who disagree with you. To do that, creates an alternate reality, and widens the gap between the influencer and the fans.<\/p>\n The primary objective of social media, for example, is to bridge that gap. The more direct the links may be, the more goods and services are likely to be sold. The idea of blocking people is counterproductive to growing bodybuilding and the fitness industry.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a reason why, to date, I\u2019ve only been blocked by two top tier bodybuilders after covering the sport for darn near fifteen years. What\u2019s interesting, is that while a lot of people came to me over the years, to empathize with my issues with Heath, many are coming out of the woodwork \u2013 just in a few days \u2013 to say the same about Nick Walker. One Florida promoter, for example, made a public comment, stating as much. I mean, when you have a promoter going on record as to say they don\u2019t like him, you know the guy\u2019s either misunderstood \u2013 or \u2013 an asshole. <\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of commonalities between Nick and another bodybuilder who shot to the top, not too long ago. I won\u2019t say names, but for those of you who are faithful readers of Iron Magazine, you\u2019ll pick up on this memory pretty quickly.<\/p>\n So, picture it, I was hanging with Dave Liberman at an Arnold Classic and he needed a spot (video) from a bodybuilder who was to guest pose at one of his two big contests in Cleveland. We had to wait in line at the booth, which is highly unusual. If you know the bodybuilder and you\u2019re in the media, a promoter, or a fellow influencer, then the standard is, you cut. I know that\u2019s kind of fucked up; why should we not wait, but you, the fans, should? I don\u2019t really have an answer, except to say, that\u2019s just the way it is. I just go with the flow. Anyways, the primadonna behind the booth made us wait. He barely acknowledged us.<\/p>\n Now mind you, Dave was there, contest posters in hand, and it was clearly obvious why he was there. It was business. In any event, the bodybuilder made us wait. It wasn\u2019t super long, but it was a good 5-10 minutes. While it wasn\u2019t long, it was humiliating. Dave was annoyed, as was I. Eventually, the bodybuilder waved us over, gave us a halfhearted spot, and the whole time looked like he was doing Dave a huge favor. That\u2019s an asshole move. I wouldn\u2019t expect much more from Nick Walker. To be fair, it\u2019s not just because blocked me, but it\u2019s also based on the mountain of feedback I\u2019ve been receiving.<\/p>\n You can tell a lot about people based on their actions. And the fact is, just to give you an idea how petty this 300lb phenom is, my issue was with his coach. I didn\u2019t even have a problem with Nick. His coach, Matt Jansen, voiced displeasure with my coverage of Shaun Clarida\u2019s outrageous dismissal from RAW, but even Jansen didn\u2019t block me. That\u2019s because one man blocking another man on Instagram is a weak move.<\/p>\n When Nick took Top 5 at the O, we exchanged a couple dozen texts and audio messages on IG. I met him at the Natural Body event in Ozone Park, NY. It\u2019s not like he couldn\u2019t have reached out and said, \u201chey man, I don\u2019t dig your coverage,\u201d or \u201cI disagree with you because of\u2026\u201d Instead, he blocks me. He blocks me knowing I run like 50 Instagram pages. Blocking one account serves no purpose, plus, he\u2019s all over the news. Am I not going to see that? Am I suddenly going to be cut off, unable to write articles or do commentaries? I just don\u2019t understand what blocking accomplishes, except to offend people. I totally get unfollowing someone, but blocking them?<\/p>\n Nick, certainly, has been through a lot in his life and I certainly respect his many achievements on stage; however, I\u2019m not going to brush his blocking me under the rug. It sets a bad precedent and it needs to be addressed early on. Look how bad it got with Phil Heath. He used to block EVERYONE! You didn\u2019t think he\u2019d win? He\u2019d block you. You didn\u2019t think he made improvements? He\u2019d block you. You simply liked a heckler\u2019s comment? He\u2019d block you. Phil Heath was the biggest man child that ever held the Mr. Olympia \u2013 and what\u2019s worse is, he held it for seven consecutive years. Have you ever wondered why Ronnie\u2019s and Jay\u2019s lines were always longer than Phil\u2019s, even when Phil was at the height of his reign? It\u2019s because Phil was a prick. Maybe my article will resonate with the people who tell Nick what to do, or maybe he\u2019ll read it, and do a volte-face.<\/p>\n Others have said that Nick runs from any negativity. I think he even told me something about me not writing anything controversial. I didn\u2019t really get it and when he said it, he said with this sort of feeble-looking demeanor, that I just couldn\u2019t take seriously. It was just weird. Nick said it as I approached him to say what\u2019s up. It was almost like a conditional what-up. Lol. It\u2019s like he had to put that warning out, like if I ever took any critical position \u2013 on anything \u2013 into infinity, then from what I gather, I ran the risk of no longer getting him to say what\u2019s up
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to me. That\u2019s super weird.<\/p>\n