Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has lost his sponsorship deal with Dannon, and the yogurt company will no longer use the player in their advertising.
“We are shocked and disheartened at the behavior and comments of Cam Newton towards Jourdan Rodrigue, which we perceive as sexist and disparaging to all women,” the company said in a statement to ESPN. “It is entirely inconsistent with our commitment to fostering equality and inclusion in every workplace. It’s simply not OK to belittle anyone based on gender.”
“We have shared our concerns with Cam and will no longer work with him,” the company said.
Despite Dannon’s statement, Newton’s representative Carlos Fleming of WME/IMG told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that “Dannon has not terminated the agreement, nor do they have grounds to.”
Spoke with IMG/WME’s Carlos Fleming, who works with Cam on marketing: “Dannon has not terminated the agreement, nor do they have grounds to”
“The agreement has not been terminated. However, we will no longer work with him and are removing advertising with him in it,” Dannon then told James Palmer, also of the NFL Network.
Dannon on Cam: “The agreement has not been terminated however we will no longer work with him and are removing advertising with him in it.”
“It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes,” he told Charlotte Observer beat writer Rodrigue when she asked him about wide receiver Devin Funchess.
However, Rodrigue didn’t see the funny side of it, telling TheWrap in a statement: “This afternoon, I did my job as an NFL beat writer and asked Cam Newton a question about one of his receivers. I was dismayed by his response, which not only belittled me but countless other women before me and beside me who work in similar jobs.
“I sought Mr. Newton out as he left the locker room a few minutes later. He did not apologize for his comments,” she added.
Sports and Politics Don't Mix? History Says Otherwise (Photos)
With President Donald Trump's grousing over recent protests in the NFL, the debate over whether athletes should express their political views through the platform of sports has heated up once again. But contrary to what some might believe, the phenomenon of athletes protesting didn't begin with Colin Kaepernick. Read on as TheWrap delves into the long-term relationship between sports and politics.
At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Tommie Smith and John Carlos -- who'd taken the gold and bronze medalists in the 200-meter dash -- took to the winners podium and raised their fists above their heads in a silent protest against discrimination against African-Americans in the United States. "If I win I am an American, not a black American. But if I did something bad then they would say 'a Negro.' We are black and we are proud of being black," Smith said of the protest.
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali famously refused to serve in the U.S. military during the Vietnam war, noting, “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?" In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded Ali the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him "a fierce fighter and a man of peace."
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States led a boycott of the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. The boycott would grow to 65 nations who refused to participate in the games.
Four years later, the USSR would return the favor, boycotting the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. "Chauvinistic sentiments and anti-Soviet hysteria are being whipped up in this country," the Soviet government said of the boycott, which 13 other communist countries would also join.
At the beginning of the 1995-1996 NBA season, Denver Nuggets point guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf decided that he wouldn't salute the American flag during the playing of the national anthem prior to games. The decision went unnoticed for some time; when NBA commissioner David Stern handed down a one-game suspension to the player. The NBA later reached a compromise, mandating that Abdul-Rauf stand for the anthem, but allowing him to close his eyes and face downward.
In 2014, following the death of Eric Garner after a confrontation with police in New York, Cleveland Cavaliers stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving wore shirts emblazoned with the phrase "I Can't Breathe" -- Garner's reported last words -- while warming up for a game against the Brooklyn Nets. Nets players Jarrett Jack, Alan Anderson, Deron Williams and Kevin Garnett also donned the shirts.
In 2016, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick opted not to stand during the national anthem, saying, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color ... To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
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From Muhammad Ali to Colin Kaepernick, a timeline of protesting athletes
With President Donald Trump's grousing over recent protests in the NFL, the debate over whether athletes should express their political views through the platform of sports has heated up once again. But contrary to what some might believe, the phenomenon of athletes protesting didn't begin with Colin Kaepernick. Read on as TheWrap delves into the long-term relationship between sports and politics.
