Bosses at PepsiCo have decided to drop Lil Wayne as the spokesperson for their brand after Wayne’s lyrics have upset the familiy of Emmett Till, a civil rights icon.
Till was killed back in 1955 in a race attack, and Wayne referenced the teen in a sexual lyric on Future’s song “Karate Chop.” Activists flooded Pepsi’s lines to protest the lyrics and urge the brand to drop him as the face of Mountain Dew.
Though the rapper sent an apologetic letter to Till’s family, insisting he would not reference him again, PepsiCo announced that they will no longer be working with Lil Wayne, stating that his “offensive reference to a revered civil rights icon” does not “reflect the values of our brand.”
A rep for Lil Wayne insists the two parties parted ways amicably due to “creative differences.”
