As a celebrity, you haven’t really made it to superstardom until you receive the coveted endorsement deal.
Whether it’s a million dollar sneaker deal or a multi-million dollar partnership with a soda company, celebrities jump at the opportunity to have their face plastered on billboards across the nation.
One thing celebrities fail to realize is as quick as you ink a deal, you can lose a deal, and unfortunately, in the wake of controversy many celebrities have lost it all.
After much criticism surrounding Rick Ross’ “U.O.E.N.O.” rape lyric, the sneaker giant Reebok decided to finally drop the Miami rapper from his multi-million dollar deal.
It was announced today that Rick Ross will reportedly lose between $3.5-5 million after being dropped from Reebok.
The Maybach Music Group commander-in-chief was receiving a check every time he stepped out in Reebok’s comfy kicks.
Although Rick Ross may feel like he’s lost it all, we know he’ll eventually recover.
We here at GlobalGrind decided to round up all the celebrities who lost their endorsement deals in the wake of controversy.
From singer Chris Brown to model Kate Moss and every professional athlete imaginable, many celebrities have taken a loss, or two, in the world of endorsements.
Find out everyone who lost their endorsement deals below!
They don’t call her bad gal RiRi for nothing.
Bajan pop princess Rihanna was dropped from her deal with Nivea after the company stated the “Diamonds” singer was “too risky” and “too sexy” for their skin care brand.
Before 2009, Chris Brown had it all.
The then 19-year-old singer had an endorsement deal with Wrigley’s, millions of fans, and media adoration, until he was charged with domestic violence against his very popular girlfriend Rihanna.
The gum company dropped Chris Brown and his commercials faster than a speeding bullet and never looked back.
Boo Bill O’Reilly.
In 2002, Atlanta rapper Ludacris scored a huge endorsement deal with the soda giant Pepsi.
Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly began to protest against the rapper’s television ads and called Pepsi “immoral” for letting a popular rapper with “violent” and “sexist” lyrics be the face of their company.
After months of protests, Pepsi succumbed to the pressure and dropped Luda.
Sad, we know.
Professional NBA player Kobe Bryant is the king of endorsement deals, but when he was accused, tried, and eventually acquitted of rape, his endorsement deals went flying out the window.
Company sponsors like McDonald’s, Nutella, Coke, and Adidas all dropped the popular basketball star.
After the smoke cleared, Kobe slowly but surely earned his endorsement deals back, but instead of running back to Adidas, Kobe took a deal with the top sneaker company in the world, Nike.
Magic Johnson stunned the world when he announced to the world that he was HIV positive. The year was 1991 and the world didn’t know much about the stigma-bearing disease. Magic had a deal with Pepsi and the sneaker company Converse that was worth an estimated $12 million, but when he revealed his status, both companies bowed out quietly.
Model Kate Moss was once the top model in the world. She was the face of high-end fashion brands like Chanel, Burberry, and even lower end brands like H&M.
After the model was outed for doing cocaine in a London tabloid, Chanel, Burberry, and H&M let the English model go.
Who knew Olympic athletes smoke weed?
Michael Phelps stunned the world when pictures leaked of him smoking weed out of a bong. The Olympic champion was the face of Kellogg’s cereal brand, but the breakfast company decided to snatch all of his boxes off the shelves.
Other companies like Speedo, Subway, and Visa who endorsed Michael Phelps laid low and rode out the controversy with the Olympic swimmer.
Controversial NBA player Latrell Spreewell was always known to get into a little trouble here and there, but it wasn’t until he choked his coach P.J. Carlesimo, that he got dropped from his endorsement deal with Converse sneaker company.
Michael Vick was a revered quarterback, but after he was indicted in a federal court for dog fighting, he lost it all.
The former Atlanta Falcons star was immediately dropped from his deal with Nike.
In 2007, Akon made headlines for doing sexually explicit acts with a teenager on stage during one of his concerts.
While Akon said he assumed the girl was of age at the 18 and over venue, he was sadly mistaken. Turns out, Akon performed a sexual romp with a 15-year-old girl.
The musical artist was then dropped from all Verizon ads and the company refused to sell his ringtones.
Lance Armstrong has one of the biggest “fall from grace” stories in athletic history. The revered professional cyclist was the best in the world, until it was discovered that the cancer survivor was taking performance enhancement drugs to win races.
After denying the allegations and eventually coming clean, Lance Armstrong was dropped from Nike. Nike even went so far as to drop Lance from the company he started -LiveStrong – in the wake of his cancer diagnosis.
When you think of Madonna, you think of controversy.
The pop icon has toned down her image a lot since she first came onto the music scene. Back in 1989, Madonna was the hottest star and the most controversial star, but that didn’t stop Pepsi from taking a risk on the “Like A Virgin” singer.
After a few months of sponsorship, Pepsi quickly realized Madonna wasn’t going to censor herself for anyone and she was eventually dropped from the company.
“King Of The South” rapper T.I. was just beginning to catch the attention of mainstream America in 2009, which earned him deals with Axe Body spray and Remy Martin cognac company, but the “Top Back” rapper was caught with an artillery of semi-automatic weapons and sent to jail for 11 months.
While T.I. was in jail, Axe and Remy bailed and they didn’t bring T.I. with them.
