Reebok, athletes cut ties with CrossFit after founder Greg Glassman calls George Floyd death 'Floyd-19'
Reebok, as well as several athletes, announced their decision to sever their ties with fitness regimen company CrossFit over its founder and CEO Greg Glassman's tweet about the George Floyd protests.
Hundreds of thousands of people in several cities around the country have taken to the streets to speak out against police brutality and racial injustice following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American truck driver who died in the custody of four Minneapolis Police officers.
In a disturbing video that has now been viewed hundreds of millions of times, Floyd could be seen begging and pleading for his life as officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for close to nine minutes. The three other officers, Tou Thao, J Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, did little to stop Chauvin.
While several celebrities have lent their voice to the Black Lives Matter movement and have been snapped attending rallies, Glassman found himself in hot water over a tweet where he described Floyd's death as "Floyd-19."
Glassman's response was posted as a direct reply to a post from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on Sunday, June 7, that read, "Racism and discrimination are critical public health issues that demand an urgent response. #BlackLivesMatter."
In a follow-up tweet, he said the health research institute's coronavirus model "failed" and criticized it for modeling a "solution to racism."
The backlash and the fallout from the tweet were swift. Reebok was amongst the first to distance themselves from Glassman and ended their exclusive 10-year deal as the main CrossFit sponsor and licensee of CrossFit apparel.
"Our partnership with CrossFit HQ comes to an end later this year," the sports giant said in a statement obtained by Forbes. "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."
CrossFit affiliate gym Rocket CrossFit said it would no longer associate itself with the company and even published a profanity-laden letter Glassman had addressed to their co-owner Alyssa Royse.
CrossFit games supplier Rogue Fitness, which provides strength training equipment to CrossFit Games, said it would be removing the CrossFit logo from this year's event and will "work with CrossFit Games leadership to determine the best path forward."
Professional CrossFit athlete Rich Froning, who has won the CrossFit Games four times, also criticized Glassman's comments on his Instagram page which has 1.4 million followers. He said the events of the last few days had "made it impossible to stay loyal to leadership who make callous statements that alienate and divide in a time when unity is needed" and that he "can no longer be loyal to someone or something that is so far from my own values."
CrossFit Games champion Tia-Clair Toomey similarly said she was "incredibly saddened, disappointed and frustrated" at CrossFit and Glassman and said that her "future with Crossfit is unclear and depends on the direction of HQ."
Glassman eventually apologized for his comments and said, "I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism. I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday. My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake. Floyd is a hero in the black community and not just a victim. I should have been sensitive to that and wasn't. I apologize for that."
His tweet remains undeleted.