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Rashard Mendenhall fired by Champion over Osama bin Laden tweets
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is being dropped as an endorser by corporate sponsor Champion over his controversial tweets objecting to the celebration over the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of U.S. commandos Sunday.
Champion is "ending our business relationship" with Mendenhall since the athletic brand doesn't think he "can appropriately represent Champion," spokesman Matt Hall told Game On! Thursday night.
Mendenhall also questioned what really happened to the Twin Towers during the September 11th attacks. Before deleting it from his Twitter feed, he tweeted he has "a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style."
The NFL running back recently signed a 4-year contract extension to endorse Champion through 2015. That extended his first 3-year deal with the unit of Hanesbrands signed in 2008.
The Steelers have also run away from Mendenhall's comments. Mendenhall issued a clarification Wednesday. But it didn't help. Just more proof that athletes and celebrities should be careful before they hit the send button on their tweets.
Here's the full statement from Champion on Mendenhall:
"Champion is a strong supporter of the government's efforts to fight terrorism and is very appreciative of the dedication and commitment of the U.S. Armed Forces. Earlier this week, Rashard Mendenhall, who endorses Champion products, expressed personal comments and opinions regarding Osama bin Laden and the September 11 terrorist attacks that were inconsistent with the values of the Champion brand and with which we strongly disagreed. In light of these comments, Champion was obliged to conduct a business assessment to determine whether Mr. Mendenhall could continue to effectively communicate on behalf of and represent Champion with consumers. While we respect Mr. Mendenhall's right to express sincere thoughts regarding potentially controversial topics, we no longer believe that Mr. Mendenhall can appropriately represent Champion and we have notified Mr. Mendenhall that we are ending our business relationship. Champion has appreciated its association with Mr. Mendenhall during his early professional football career and found him to be a dedicated and conscientious young athlete. We sincerely wish him all the best."
Source: USA Today