Cheryl Shuman
Shuman in 2019
Born
Cheryl Lynn Killen

(1960-03-19) March 19, 1960
Buena Vista, Ohio
Occupation(s)Businessperson, media personality
Children2

Cheryl Shuman (born 19 March 1960) is an American businessperson, media personality and promoter. Shuman's personal business ventures have included couponing advice, eyeglasses supplier for actors and a private marijuana club in Los Angeles called Beverly Hills Cannabis Club. She promoted herself variously as the "Coupon Queen," "Optician to the Stars," and the "Martha Stewart of Marijuana."

Early life

Shuman was born and raised in Portsmouth, Ohio.[1]

Career

In 1980, Shuman identified herself as a "Coupon Queen,"[2] providing advice to Ohioans about saving money using coupons.[3] She self-published a Complete Guide to Successful Couponing and Refunding (under her married name, Cheryl Peart), sold a monthly newsletter of coupon tips, and gave talks to local groups about couponing. This led to regular appearances giving couponing tips on the PM Magazine television show.[4] According to Shuman, while recovering from a bad car accident in 1983, her TV appearances ended as well as her couponing business.[5]

Shuman got a job working as an assistant to an optician in London, Ohio.[6] She later moved to California and worked at an eyeglass store in Encino.[5] Shuman began traveling directly to the homes of wealthy clients around Los Angeles to sell them eyeglasses from her Personal Eyes Optique collection.[6] Through these contacts, she created the business Starry Eyes Optical Services that supplied eyeglasses to movies and television.[5] According to Shuman, her eyeglass business went bankrupt in 1995 following her failed litigation against actor Steven Seagal and others.[5] Into the 2000s, Shuman operated a website called Starry Eyes for selling a line of eyeglass frames that replicated those used in popular films. Shuman described herself as “Optician to the Stars” as well as a “Former International Fashion Model.”[7][8]

Shuman became active in promoting the retail marijuana business in California. In a 2016 interview, Shuman said she became a regular pot user after a doctor recommended it as a mood stabilizer to help her eliminate large daily amounts of Prozac and Xanax that she was taking.[9] Shuman said she founded a Beverly Hills Cannabis Club in 1996, the year medical marijuana was legalized in California. In a 2015 New York Times article titled "Cannabis Queen of Beverly Hills", Shuman said that she used large amounts of marijuana oil in 2006 to cure herself of ovarian cancer as well as used cannabis to treat her hypertension and a benign mass on her liver.[5][10]

Shuman called herself "the Martha Stewart of Marijuana" and hosted some private events to promote a wide variety of her own possible marijuana-related businesses for upscale clients.[5] Shuman attended activist meetings but was removed from National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Women’s Alliance steering committee for using the organization to promote her own products. Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML in 2015 said, “Cheryl Shuman is always selling herself.”[5]

Litigations

In 1987, Shuman accused her next door neighbor of battery during a confrontation about the condition of the neighbor’s home. At the trial, some witnesses said Shuman appeared to be the instigator and a jury found Shuman's neighbor innocent of all charges.[11]

In 1995, Shuman filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Steven Seagal with whom she claimed a four-month affair. The suit also named actor Michael Caine, Seagal's wife Kelly LeBrock, Warner Bros. and other assorted defendants for conspiracy, breach of contract, negligence, assault and battery.[12] Calling the lawsuit “unintelligible,” the judge dismissed it with prejudice.[13] Shuman had been arrested for felony perjury the previous month for using the District Attorney's stationery to forge documents and a press release.[14]

Personal life

Shuman married David Peart[2] and lived in London, Ohio.[2] They had one child before divorcing in 1983.[6] After moving to California, Shuman married television newscaster Phil Shuman with whom she had a second child.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Blankenship, Nikki (September 18, 2017). "How marijuana saved the 'Cannabis Queen'". Portsmouth Daily Times. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Wright, Christine (November 12, 1980). "Clip Those Coupons for Cents Off and Cash Refunds". The Urbana Daily Citizen.
  3. ↑ Dunlap, Robert (May 13, 1981). "'Coupon Queen' Shares Refunding Tips". Springfield News-Sun. p. 17.
  4. ↑ ""Coupon Queen" Speaks Dec. 18 to Union Countians". The Richwood Gazette. September 21, 1980. p. 9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ross, Theodore (January 9, 2015). "The Cannabis Queen of Beverly Hills". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Calistro, Paddy (December 26, 1986). "Eyes Have it for Veteran Coupon Clipper". Los Angeles Times. p. Part V 19.
  7. ↑ "You, Too, Can Look Like a Star". The Albuquerque Tribune. April 24, 2000. p. 16.
  8. ↑ Smith, Lynn (June 23, 2000). "See? Reading Specs with Style". Los Angeles Times. p. E4.
  9. ↑ Ryan, Denise (October 19, 2016). "Celebrity Spliffs". Montreal Gazette. p. NP3.
  10. ↑ Denman-Underhill, Lori (May 5, 2015). "The "Martha Stewart of Marijuana" Helps Women Get Into the Weed Business". LA Weekly. Voice Media Group. ISSN 0192-1940. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  11. ↑ Hulse, Jane (September 15, 1987). "Woman Not Guilty in Spat With Neighbor". Los Angeles Times. p. Part II 7.
  12. ↑ Rush, George (Feb 15, 1995). "Optician's Suit Against Seagal makes for Eye-Popping Reading". New York Daily News. p. 427.
  13. ↑ "Judge Tosses Case". Associated Press. May 16, 1995.
  14. ↑ "Seagal Triumphs". Modesto Bee. May 15, 1995. p. A-2.
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