Flavor Flav’s Chicken in Clinton, Iowa was supposed to be the first of a national fried chicken chain, set to compete on a level with KFC and Popeyes.

But that dream appears to be derailed for now. According to the Guardian, Flav has severed ties with his former business partner Nick Cimino, closing the first and only of his famous fried chicken outposts.

The news comes as a huge shock to fans of chicken and/or Flavor Flav’s reality shows, many of whom find themselves asking tough questions like, “Huh?” and “How can this be?” and even, “Why?”

Flavor Flav’s Chicken, a fried chicken restaurant named after an ex-hype man and reality show Don Juan who has no history in the food service industry, seemed like an ace in the hole.

Sure it was located across from Clinton’s one KFC, and sure, employees complained last month that their checks were bouncing, but as Flav explained, they were “just jealous.”

So what happened? Flav disclosed that when he visited the joint on April 2nd, what he found was not up to his standards.

“Let me be straight up with you. I found potato salad that expired on 28 February and it’s then when I realized I can’t do business there and I really hope no one ate those potatoes,” he said.

That’s right. A lesser man may have thrown it out and asked his employees to make fresh potato salad, but not Flav.

“I have to do whatever is possible for me to save my name and that’s to shut the business down. Nick Cimino isn’t running the business right.”

This is a huge let down, but there is one small glimmer of hope.

According to the Guardian, “Flavor Flav has signalled his intentions to open a new venture in Las Vegas. ‘Flavor Flav’s House of Flavor’ will reportedly open in the city on May 30th, 2011.”

Cimino is predictably upset, claiming, “I came up with the idea and now he wants to run without me? That’s fine … I’m just glad I’m free of somebody like Flavor Flav.”

Sounds like another case of “just jealous” to me.