interesting guess, but it can only be part of the story if its true at all. a lot of those people are Joe's best friends that would more likely go down in flame

interesting guess, but it can only be part of the story if its true at all. a lot of those people are Joe's best friends that would more likely go down in flames than abandon him (ari, bert, tom, bill). a more likely angle is some intermediary like publishers or managers are making decisions through contracts or deals.