Sports footwear and apparel company Reebok International Limited, affiliated to Germany's Adidas, said it has ended its longtime partnership with fitness network CrossFit after its founder and CEO Greg Glassman made a comment about the death of George Floyd and related protests.
Glassman tweeted "It's FLOYD-19", rhyming with "Covid-19", while responding to a tweet from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The director of the Institute called racism and discrimination as critical public health issues that demand an urgent response.
Glassman, meanwhile, has apologized, noting that his choice of words was not racist but a mistake.
Floyd, the 46-year-old African American, died on Memorial Day after he was pinned down by a a white Minneapolis police officer by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The death has sparked widespread outrage and protests in Minneapolis and across the U.S.
Reebok, the title sponsor for the 2020 CrossFit Games, said it will end its partnership with CrossFit after it fulfills the current contract obligation.
Reebok said, "Our partnership with CrossFit HQ comes to an end later this year. Recently, we have been in discussions regarding a new agreement, however, in light of recent events, we have made the decision to end our partnership with CrossFit HQ. We will fulfill our remaining contractual obligations in 2020."
CrossFit reportedly has lost partnerships with some affiliates as well including CrossFit Magnus, Petworth Fitness, Rogue and NoBull.
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