Speedo, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gentle Hair Removal, and Airweave are all dropping Ryan Locthe after officials exposed his lies about being robbed at gunpoint while in Rio for the Olympics.
“While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for,” Speedo said in a statement. “We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience.”
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What’s more, Ralph Lauren said that it had become a sponsor for the swimmer for the Olympic Games but that it would not be renewing the contract now that the Games were over.
Mattress-maker Airweave also said that its sponsorship of Lochte was “in support of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games” and would not continue after the Olympics.
While other sponsors have removed pictures of Lochte from their websites and campaigns, Gentle Hair Removal left images of the Lotche on their website, as he had been the face of their ads. However, they too announced that there would be no future in the company for Lochte.
“We hold our employees to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners. We wish Ryan well on his future endeavors and thank him for the time he spent supporting our brand.”
–Olympic swimmer Ryan Lotche’s American flag grill made by Paul Wall
The disgraced swimmer sat for an interview with Matt Lauer to address the controversy saying he “over-exaggerated” the story.
The 32-year-old swimmer is worth an estimated $6 million dollars and according to one Forbes analyst Lochte cost himself an estimated $5-10 million dollars in future lifetime income.
“It could [cost me a lot of money]. “And that’s something that I’m going to have to live with,” Lochte said in the interview. “That’s something that I’m going to have to deal with. But I know what I did was wrong and I know I learned my lesson. And all I can do now is better myself and making sure that this kind of stuff never happens again.”
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