Last week womens rights group UltraViolet led protests outside a New York City Reebok store against the brand’s endorsement of Rick Ross. The group cited lyrics in Ross’ verse on the Rocko song “U.O.E.N.O.” that they believed, implied rape. Following the protests, Ross apologized for the perceived lyrics on Twitter. However, protesters continued to seek Reebok let go of the Def Jam/Maybach Music Group star.
Yesterday, those requests were met in late afternoon, when Reebok formally announced that they had parted ways with Rick Ross, citing that he did not align with the “values of the brand.” They also expressed disappointment with the rapper’s apology, stating, “We are very disappointed [that Rick Ross] has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue.”
In the hours following the news, UltraViolet reacted, as reported by VIBE.com, praising the shoemaker and apparel brand. “We are thrilled to hear that Reebok is joining the fight against rape culture and dropping Rick Ross,” said UltraViolet co-founder Nita Chaudhary.
“This is a huge victory for women, for the 526 survivors of rape who were brave enough to publicly confront rape culture, and for the nearly 100,000 UltraViolet members who have poured their hearts and time into this campaign,” Chaudhary continued. “This sends a strong message that rapping about drugging and raping an unconscious woman is not only morally wrong, but has real consequences.” She closed in saying, “Thank you Reebok for taking a stand.”
Already, two of Rick Ross Rap peers have criticized Reebok for the same decision, in Earl Sweatshirt and Slim Thug.
RELATED: Rick Ross Dropped By Reebok, Over Perceived Rape Lyric
Who the fuck wears Rebooks anyways.
Oh well
Rebook will be considered for me as a rapist’s shoe, and addidas a shoe for people who want to hurt themselves quicker while playing sports
Nike all day, bitch.
consumer driven wackness.
slave to the brand name, suckah shit.
set your aspirations higher, kids.
Not really.
Rebook shoes suck and they ugly as hell
and adidas, you seen how many nba player with their shoes got hurt?
It’s common sense, I just like Nike for how they look
@nuc- shut up nigga lol
Its all a bunch of tree hugging hippy crap
Now we need Diddy and Jay Z to drop him and hip hop can be good again.
nobody gives a fuck bout reebok and dem ultraviolet bitches!!!!
there goes b.o.b protesting front and center. ha.!!
yes it’s him
hahaha thought it waz him!
@Reebok got Bitchslapped by a bunch of Ho protesters with their own interprets of an artists words Guess Reeboks the one that got bent over!
bend over
The values of the Reebok brand do not promote the alleged use of Molly, but they sure as hell promote drug dealing and killing. Goodnight y’all!
then lets protest
damn they rly went hard at ross, i can give 2 shits about the guy i think hes a fraud n his music has 1 story line every song..but this seems excessive..
taking your time out of your days and weeks to protest a guy over 2 lines (yes they were fucked up) but damn. he apologized 100 times. this is what happens when u want to be precieved as real and anythin u say is ‘real’ i guess tho
he hardly apologized ‘100 times’
You all are missing the point. He never apologized. He skated around an apology. If he would have said…”You know what I made a mistake! I apologize if I hurt anyone’s feelings.” He would still have his Reebok contract.
Guess what? Reebok still has to pay him, so it doesn’t really matter how Ross handled it.
The hate it real as f** damn ! That ain stoppin him from making his mulla or getting another endorsement from another multi million dollar company. Y’all hating arse and broke mofo need a job so you make some fo yo self rather than hate on a successful nigga
How does Ross’ dick taste? Stop riding that man and stop calling people who think he’s a piece of shit haters. Get a life instead of defending a nigga that doesn’t even know you.
This people don’t even buy Reebok shoes, I doubt Reebok was gonna lose any money if they had kept Rick Ross
This people probably don’t even buy Reebok shoes, I doubt Reebok was gonna lose any money if they had kept Rick Ross
REEBOK DROPPED HIM FOR IMAGE PURPOSES that’s it, they don’t want that outside their store, especially since they made 3 quarterly LOSSES, THEY COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT HE SAYS, ITS ALL ABOUT THE DOLLAR$$. On top of that he’s probably got a massive payout for the termination of contract!
How many people have actually lived with Ross or been around him his whole life, or seen how he lived before hiphop? how many get their info from news outlets or what 50 cent said? DON’T ALWAYS BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ or HEAR! How are people still so naive!! WAKE UP!
I bet you all think the earth is still flat too!!
them stupid UltraViolent feministic hoes need to chill like fa real tho.
no they dont fuck rick ross gd’s need to clap him already
I am no Rick Ross fan, but this is busted. OK with dope, and was OK with Rape until the protest. Really hip hop needs to move away from the mainstream. it isn’t built for mainstream. Never was. Come home hip hop. We miss you.
i hope everyone in mmg dies
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Why HHDX do you even print any story which has to do with women and self respect. You have to know that your “hip hop” audience is the most misogynistic, women hating,excuse making, b*** and h*** calling, group of inbred savages of any musical genre in history. Maybe you are mad your mother was a jump off or something, but you n-words were better off picking cotton. The sad thing is, most of you all grew up in single parent homes headed by women (well probably bi******) in your case. The irony…
Shut cha ignorant ass up!!! Racist pieces of shit such as you are keyboard gangstas, but quiet as hell when Black people are around. Plus the Hip-Hop audience consists of all races and backgrounds. Sounds like another lame white boy with no life.
Drugging a woman and having sex with her without her knowledge or consent is nothing less than rape.
Rick Ross implied nothing, he STATED that he raped a woman and enjoyed it.
That a woman could endure STDs and pregnancy from an unknown sperm donor should horrify you if you have sisters or daughters.