UFC star Israel Adesanya loses million dollars brand ambassadorial deal over rape comment
An ambassadorial deal worth million of dollars between BMW and Nigerian-born UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has been dropped following a rape comment by the athlete.
Israel Adesanya was scheduled to be unveiled on Monday, March 29, 2021, as a brand ambassador to German vehicle manufacturer, BMW.
This has now been cancelled by the company following Israel’s rape comment aimed at middleweight contender, Kevin Holland earlier this week.
In their tradition of trading insults ahead of contests or even fixtures, Isreal had responded to insults from UFC Vegas 22 headliner, Holland on his Instagram story, saying, “Bro, I will f*cking rape you“.
BMW found this distasteful. In a statement, the company said, “Due to the comments made by an athlete (Israel Adesanya) online, we have reviewed our pending association with said athlete and we have decided not to push forward with a specific ambassador for the brand at this time in New Zealand.”
Also reacting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for sport in New Zealand, Grant Robertson asserted that flippant comments about rape should never be made.
“We have to take rape seriously. It’s not an issue that anyone should be making jokes or flippant comments about at all,” Robertson said during an interview with Radio New Zealand. “I’m sure Israel (Adesanya) understands that, I believe he has deleted the tweet (sic) in question. It will be up to the UFC as to what they do.”
Adesanya who has since deleted the Instagram story, has also formally apologised.
In a statement released via his official Twitter account, Adesanya apologised for the comment on Instagram.
“Last weekend fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line. I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was NEVER my intention.
“I am still growing under the spotlight, and I take this as a lesson to be more selective with words under pressure.”
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/ah6ajlQBlm
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) March 25, 2021
