Brands abandon Conor McGregor after sexual-assault ruling

Multiple brands are distancing themselves from Conor McGregor after the UFC star was found guilty of sexual assault in a civil suit last Friday.

The High Court in Ireland ruled that McGregor raped Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in 2018, ordering him to pay more than €248,000 in compensation.

In the wake of the ruling, the owners of McGregor’s former company Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey stated that they will not be using his likeness in their branding.

“Since 2021, Proximo Spirits has been the 100 percent owner of Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey,” Proximo Spirits said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“Going forward, we do not plan to use Mr. McGregor’s name and likeness in the marketing of the brand.”

The liquor brand is McGregor’s highest-profile dumping since the guilty verdict last week, with the 36-year-old having been the face of the company since 2018.

It comes after multiple retail outlets refused to stock products related to the Irishman, with Centra, Carry Out, Tesco, and SuperValu among the stores embargoing the UFC fighter.

Following Friday’s ruling, Rape Crisis Ireland issued a statement encouraging stores to drop McGregor.

“The companies making money from his alcohol and other products need to look at whether they want to align themselves with a man found by a civil jury to have sexually assaulted a woman,” executive director Cliona Saidlear said.

“They need to stop promoting him and distance themselves… €250,000 won’t dent his finances, but the public can play a role here in expressing disapproval for anyone that tries to make money with a man who engaged in that despicable behaviour.”

Video game producer IO Interactive, which features McGregor as a character in its ‘Hitman: World of Assassination’ game, also released a statement distancing itself from him.

“In light of the recent court ruling regarding Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has made the decision to cease its collaboration with the athlete, effective immediately,” the brand posted on Tuesday.

“We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its implications.

“Consequently, we will begin removing all content featuring Mr. McGregor from our storefronts starting today.”

The UFC is yet to make a statement on McGregor, with the former two-division champion insisting he will return to the promotion in 2025.

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