Hi, everybody! It’s Samantha! From a comedian being blackballed for jokes on Twitter to
a champion boxer dropped by Nike, these are Stars That Lost Huge Endorsement Deals.
#12 Charlize Theron Charlize Theron is the level of performer
to receive multiple endorsements, and in 2006 she was working with brands Raymond Weil and
Christian Dior. She had an exclusive contract to endorse the former designer’s watches
while being signed on to support the latter’s perfumes. So when Theron was seen wearing
a Dior watch at a film festival in Austin, Texas, representatives for Raymond Weil were
displeased to say the least. She was sued by the company in 2007 for 20 million dollars,
but settled on undisclosed terms in 2008. #11 Lance Armstrong
As the 2005 Tour de France winner, professional road cyclist Lance Armstrong was once heralded
worldwide for his athleticism, fortitude, and determination. In addition to his accomplishments
in sport, the pro athlete fought off and survived metastatic testicular cancer, a diagnosis
with a potentially fatal result. Upon recovering from the condition, Armstrong founded what
would become the Livestrong Foundation as a means to assist with other cancer survivors.
At one point, people around the globe wore his trendy Livestrong Foundation bracelets,
and he was on top of the world. Throughout his career, though, Armstrong had been accused
of taking illegal substances to enhance his performance. As allegations continued to amass
over the years, eventually a number of lawsuits put Armstrong under their crosshairs. As the
United States Anti-Doping Agency, or USADA, closed in, Armstrong admitted to his misdeeds
publicly in an interview with Oprah in January of 2013. The USADA released their report on
him shortly after, and the former role model would lose 8 sponsors in one day, including
Nike, costing him a reported loss of 75 million dollars!
#10 Katy Perry When you’re a pop sensation, your music
crosses boundaries and connects with the world at large, as was the case for Katy Perry after
hits like “Teenage Dream”, “Firework” and “California Gurls”. But according
to one of Perry’s endorsing brands, though, being a chart-topping hit-maker wasn’t quite
enough to win over all hearts. Jemella Group Limited, a hair-styling company behind the
popular british Good Hair Day hair care products, had completed research which they claimed
showed a “significant decrease in appeal across Europe.” Whatsmore, the apparent
research found Perry to be “increasingly polarizing” and some survey participants
supposedly stated that the singer “had cheapened the [GHD] brand.” They cited these reasons
as to why they would allow their contract with Perry to expire, however her management
claimed they had a verbal agreement to extend that contract for an additional multi million
dollar sum. And so Perry’s representation took JGL to court. They then countersued Perry,
and the whole affair became muddled in legal contexts before the case was settled months
later. #9 Gilbert Gottfried
Many comedians believe no joke to be off limits, for many of the heartiest laughs are felt
when discussing subjects otherwise left unspoken. But certain lines are more costly to cross
than others and comedic actor Gilbert Gottfried learned this the hard way in 2011. As a 9-magnitude
megathrust earthquake resulted in a tsunami that rattled Japan, the 64-year-old comedian
thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a series of jokes. Gottfried spewed short-form
cracks like “Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to
them.” and “Japan called me. They said “maybe those jokes are a hit in the US,
but over here, they’re all sinking.” These insensitive, hammy quips came within the first
few days after the natural disaster, and were not well-received by the public and especially
not Aflac. The insurance company used Gottfried’s famous voice for their popular duck mascot,
and coincidentally did 75 percent of their business in Japan! Within a month and a half,
he was replaced by Daniel McKeague...performing a Gottfried impression.
#8 Ludacris Ludacris has had an interesting career path,
transitioning from local radio DJ to hit rap artist to action movie actor. But before he
became a perennial star of the Fast & Furious franchise, the Southern rapper came under
fire from the right wing media. Having established his name with early hits like "Rollout (My
Business)", “Area Codes”, and "Southern Hospitality", Ludacris had landed an endorsement
deal with PepsiCo. Conservative pundit Bill O’Reilly, who had rallied publicly against
rap and hip hop music citing foul language and immoral lyrics for justification, called
for a boycott of Pepsi products on his program. A day later, O’Reilly told viewers Pepsi
had fired the rapper. The television personality had called Ludacris a "thug rapper who espouses
violence, intoxication, and degrading conduct toward women." Six months later, Pepsi would
draw the wrath of hip-hop personality and entrepreneur Russell Simmons when they hired
Ozzy Osbourne, as Osbourne had been guilty of lyrical controversy similar to Ludacris.
He called on a hip-hop action summit to boycott PepsiCo products in response. To settle the
differences, Pepsi ended up donating three million dollars to inner city charities, including
Ludacris’s own foundation. And O’Reilly? Well, he would experience his own brand troubles
down the line. #7 Bill O’Reilly
In the spring of 2017, The New York Times released an article detailing five lawsuits
settled by Bill O’Reilly out of court. The brash Fox News host had been accused of harassment
from various female Fox hosts, producers, and contributors between 2002 and 2016. Within
a week of the news going public, nearly sixty brands pulled their advertising of his program
The O’Reilly Factor, costing the show more than half of its advertisers. Companies like
Mercedes-Benz found the allegations disturbing and were quoted as saying, “We don’t feel
this is a good environment in which to advertise our products right now.” He announced shortly
after that he would be taking a two-week vacation to return by the end of April. But after just
8 days of being away, it was announced that the political media persona would not return
to Fox News. #6 Rihanna
Picking a pop culture heavyweight like Rihanna to endorse your products can lead to a whole
lot of exposure. But given the pop starlet’s edgy appeal, including her physical shamelessness,
some companies may have bitten off more than they intended. So it seemed was the case with
lotion company Nivea in 2012. After a successful partnership with Rihanna, including many performances
in honor of the companies’ “100 Years of Skincare” celebrations through 2011.
When a new CEO took over at Nivea, though, the two entities apparently clashed. Nivea,
as CEO Stefan Heidenreich put it, “is a company which stands for trust, family and
reliability.” Because of this, Heidenreich couldn’t “understand how Nivea can be
brought into association with Rihanna,” stating future advertisements were “a no
go”. Oddly enough, many of the photos used in the Nivea ad campaign featured the Barbadian
singer in the buff! While the logic behind this business decision remains someone perplexing,
Rihanna has gotten on fine without them, landing deals with brands like Budweiser and MAC cosmetics
in the years that followed. #5 Magic Johnson
Earvin “Magic” Johnson is one of the most accomplished, widely-celebrated players to
ever play for the Los Angeles Lakers. His run with the team from 1979 to 1991 churned
out 5 separate championships, with Johnson earning Most Valuable Player and Finals MVP
3 times each. So when the 6-foot-9 point guard announced to the world that he had been diagnosed
as HIV-positive, many were quick to stick behind Johnson and respect his decision to
retire. But not everyone recognized Johnson’s heroic gestures as brands slowly but surely
paused any advertising campaigns and endorsement deals that were in the works. At the time,
due to the controversial, and misplaced, association with homosexuality and the relatively conservative
American public, HIV and AIDS were a somewhat taboo subject in media...despite being a very
real, life-threatening virus. While Converse had committed to an ad set to run during the
Summer Olympics, others like Pepsi, Nestle, and Spalding hesitated to hold up their end
of a pledge to work with Johnson in spreading AIDS awareness. Said a Nestle spokeswoman
at the time, “It’s a hard situation. No matter what (we do), there are people who
will be unhappy.” While sponsors like Target and KFC opted to cease using him in advertisements
altogether. "It's a real predicament...because of his situation, are we obliged to work with
him forever?” asked a Target spokeswoman. These brands continued to bide their time
with one of the biggest names in sports, when Johnson was suddenly voted into the 1992 All-Star
Game as a starter by fans. It wasn’t long before advertisers and brands came crawling
back to support him as Magic Johnson went on to play in the Summer Olympics that year.
#4 Manny Pacquiao A champion of his sport, Manny Pacquiao is
one of the most celebrated fighters in the world and a hero among his fellow Filipinos,
having been the first fighter to win 4 major world titles in different weight classes.
His achievements in boxing brought him so much adoration that he went on to serve as
a Senator of the Philippines, taking office in 2016. A celebrity athlete of his esteem
is a shoe-in for a Nike endorsement, and he actually enjoyed the fruits of earning one
for eight years. But when he began campaigning for office, Pacquiao was quoted as making
comments deemed fairly homophobic by the public. In one video statement, he said “ If we
approve male on male, female on female, then man is worse than animal.” The backlash
from LGBT celebrities within the Philippines, as well as much of the public, came swift,
causing Pacquiao to clarify threat he doesn’t wish to condemn gay people, stating “just
the marriage which is a sin against God.” Nike in turn ended their partnership with
the champion boxer, finding his comments against the gay community to be “abhorrent.”
#3 Charlie Sheen One of Hollywood’s most notorious bad boys,
controversy seems to gravitate towards Charlie Sheen more often than not. As such, the actor
has subsequently had a number of falls from grace...followed by miraculous comebacks to
the spotlight, despite a somewhat recent history with illegal substances and prostitution.
But in 2009 on Christmas Day, Sheen was arrested for much worse when he was accused of getting
physical with an alleged scuffle with then-wife Brooke Mueller. Underclothing brand Hanes
reacted to the news by shutting down an ad campaign the actor starred in with Michael
Jordan. He was still featured in a series of print ads that couldn’t be changed, but
other than that, Sheen’s professional relationship with the underwear brand would fizzle as his
contract silently expired. Shortly after, Sheen bounced back again, supposedly receiving
various million dollar offers from companies after joining Twitter in 2011. But in time,
his projects lessened, and Sheen fell ill, announcing to the world in 2016 that he was
H.I.V.-positive. Since then, the 53-year-old actor has gone on to endorse treatments and
health products he finds beneficial towards fighting the virus.
#2 Tiger Woods Reaching the top of a sport comes with consequences,
and to fall from such heights only leads to more disastrous implications. As was the fate
for Tiger Woods when, in 2009, he crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant,
tree, and a series of hedges near his house in Florida. The events that would follow were
a cavalcade of unfortunate turns as reports of a mistress, various acts of infidelity
and an apparent risque nightlife would come out over the following weeks. His personal
family life wasn’t all that suffered from these factors coming to light. Major companies
like AT&T, Gatorade, Gilette, Golf Digest, Accenture, TAG Heuer and General Motors all
acted quickly to end, suspend, or indefinitely drop him from planned advertising campaigns.
Some brands stuck by his side despite this, with Electronic Arts continuing work on Tiger
Woods PGA Tour Online and Nike’s continued support. Shareholders of the various companies
he’d received endorsement deals from reportedly suffered between 5 and 12 billion dollars
in losses due to his negative publicity. But since his resurgence to pro golfing over the
past couple years, Woods may just be primed to return to his role as a big brand darling.
#1 Cam Newton In 2015, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam
Newton beat out rival Russell Wilson for the spot of Dannon Yogurt’s primary spokesman,
replacing John Stamos in the process. Newton was having a solid run with the company, earning
millions for his efforts, when in 2017 he made one statement that would change it all.
When asked at a press conference by reporter Jourdan Rodrigue about a peer and passing
routes, the quarterback responded: “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes.”
The comment was viewed by many, including Dannon, to be offensive towards women, with
the brand stating they find the words to be “sexist and disparaging to all women.”
Newton wasn’t dropped immediately from his contract, but the company worked swiftly to
remove all public connections between the celebrity and their brand.
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