Aleksey Vayner

alekseyvayneralekseyvayner.jpg We tried to leave young Aleksey Vayner behind but America demands more. This morning he was featured on the Today show, which showed clips of his now infamous “Impossible Is Nothing” video (accompanied by some misleading reporting about how the story spread) at about quarter to eight. Except for Matt Lauer, the cast of the today show—Al Roker and whoever those women are—felt a bit bad for Aleksey. Lauer, who has appeared in more than his own share of embarrassing video moments, obviously thought that there were more than enough troubles in the world for us to start worrying about some kid hopped-up on motivational speaking and his own sense of self-worth.
Anyway, after the jump, you can read a letter we’ve been told is Aleksey’s solicitation to potential “patients” who might want to avail themselves of his expertise in eastern medicine.
[Just discovered the internets and no idea who Aleksey Vayner is? Check out our exclusive Aleksey Vayner archive for more information.]

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kittydance.jpgJust a minor question, Ben McGrath, because, honest to God, we’re really not sure ourselves– chronologically, which comes first, 10.06.06 at 02:17 PM or 10.06.06 04:21 PM? Also, what do you make of this statement by IvyGate: “[Ed. note: We rushed this online as soon as we got it, only to notice Dealbreaker.com had it a little while ago.]“?
Aleksey The Great [The New Yorker]

You have no idea how painful it was to copy and paste this possibly legit email; easier than screen-capturing this, yes, but harder than, say, a possibly legit email from parties associated with Jeffrey Epstein. But that’s probably ’cause we’re really big fans of his work with towels. Whatever. Anyhow, we got this last night and we figured if we’re going to do something right it might as well be living up to our parent company’s name, since God knows we’re pretty much two steps away from accidentally burning this whole thing down, and we kind of owe it to them*:
From: Nansi Xu [redacted]
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 2:48 AM
To: IvyGate; tips-db
Subject: Aleksey Vayner’s Dance Partner on Video

Hello,
This is a friendly message from the girl dancing with Aleksey Vayner in his video “Impossible is Nothing.” Lately, I’ve been receiving a lot of emails from inquisitive strangers who have seen me on his video and have asked me more details on Aleksey, the video, and myself. I can’t answer any questions on Aleksey or the accusations, since I don’t think it is my position to do so, and for all of you who wanted to know more through me, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. However, I do wish to set the record straight on my role in the video.

*If you don’t know this we’ve really got nothing left to say to you.

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alekseyvayneralekseyvayner.jpg We know! We know! We promised no more daily Aleksey updates. But we’ve actually got news today!
We’re hearing that Aleksey Vayner was spotted interviewing at Credit Suisse. One of our commenters noted that some other Yale students interviewing at Credit Suisse claim to have seen the viral video sensation at the investment bank. A source within Credit Suisse later confirmed that some at the bank claim to have seen Vayner, although our source did not witness his appearance.
So is this true? Impossible is nothing. If you have any more information, send it out way. Tips (at) dealbreaker (dot) com. And if you are Aleksey, please get back in touch. You’ve got our email. We’d love to speak to you! We’ll even buy you lunch if you agree to meet with us. Thanks.

alekseyvayneralekseyvayner.jpgThe Aleksey Vayner story lives on. Nothing new has really been uncovered. It’s still all about the video and a few other crazy things he’s allegedly said. Like killing 24 in the caves of Tibet. But (at least today) we won’t let the lack of any actual events deny you your afternoon fix of Our Man At Yale.
• Aleksey hits London’s Daily Mail and the Sun.
The New York Post calls his video a “six minute egomercial.”
• David Weidner likes his style.
• The president of Charity Navigator calls for Yale to expel Aleksey
• The Cornell Daily sums up the news from New Haven for the kids in Ithaca.
• And, in case you missed it the first time around (which many of you did because you keep emailing the link to us), on pages 12 and 13 of this issue of the Rumpus there is a hilarious article on the pre-video debacle Aleksey Garber (now Vayner)
• Gawker initiates a the Douchebag Hall of Fame in Aleksey’s honor.
Let’s just admit that this Aleksey Vayner thing is probably already over. When even IvyGate starts sounding tired of the story, you know it’s on its last legs. It’ll probably continue to snake its way through the mainstream media and no doubt some people are just now discovering the “Impossible Is Nothing” video (if so, here it is!). But we’ve almost had enough of it now. Unless something actually, you know, like, happens we might have to retire our daily Vayner updates. Let us know what you think.

alekseycutegirls.JPG
This was dropped in our mail bag last night. It’s Aleksey’s purported profile from CuteGirlsOnly.com. If we’re to believe that his August 11 b’day invite was legit (and, honestly, how could it not be?), than this profile– which says Aleksie is a Gemini– is a total and complete sham. And that actually hurts a little. But putting astrological betrayals aside, we’d like to now share with you the most exciting part of this here (possibly real!) profile and that’s Aleksey’s alleged bisexuality! Yes, “Aleksey” is 6’4″, Caucasian, and a BISEXUAL! There’s enough of him for everyone! Happy days are here again.

alekseyvayneralekseyvayner.jpgAleksey Vayner’s attempt to quell distribution of his “Impossible Is Nothing” video won a small victory yesterday and then suffered a quick reversal. After his video became an overnight viral sensation—first making the rounds in emails forwarded around investment banks and then on blogs—Vayner initially removed the video from his website.
When the blog IvyGate responded by uploading the video to YouTube, Vayner sent cease and desist letters to IvyGate and other websites which embedded the video (including DealBreaker). He also asked YouTube to remove the video. Last night IvyGate received an email from YouTube, notifying them that they were indeed going to remove the video. Vayner probably went to be last night feeling like a champ.
IvyGate, however, wasn’t going out like that. It lawyered up and got reassurances that posting the video would count as “fair use.” And now the video is back up, this time at Veoh.
Calling Aleksey Vayner’s Bluff [IvyGate]