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| Rick Ross and ReebokMIAMI BEACH, FL - MARCH 10: Rick Ross poses with Reebok staff members at the Reebok Classic gifting suite at Rick Ross' white party at Fontainebleau Hotel on March 10, 2013 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Reebok) |
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 04: A general view at the New York City protest against Reebok for not firing rapper Rick Ross over sexist and violent lyrics outside the Reebok Flagship Store on April 4, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
Reebok on Thursday terminated its relationship with rapper Rick Ross, whose verse on U.O.E.N.O, boast about drugging and raping a woman that caused an uproar.
The song contains the lines: “Put molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it, I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.” Molly is slang for the drug MDMA.
“While we do not believe that Rick Ross condones sexual assault, we are very disappointed he has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue or an appropriate level of remorse,” Reebok, a subsidiary of Germany company Adidas, said in a statement.
“At this time, it is in everyone’s best interest for Reebok to end its partnership with Mr. Ross,” it said.
Ross had an endorsement deal with the company and promoted its shoes in print and TV commercials.
Ultraviolet gathered over 70,000 signatures and pressured Reebok to drop Rick Ross.
Two radio stations dropped the record from their playlists, Parents Television Council protested and women’s rights advocates have posted video on YouTube objecting to the song.
Ross denied the lyric in question condones rape, saying the lyrics have been misinterpreted..
