Derek Jeter is involved in an ugly lawsuit filed in Sweden by underwear brand Frigo, who have alleged he backed out of a deal to sponsor and serve as company director because of concerns the campaign was "too gay." Frigo also alleged in earlier documents that Jeets was concerned about bringing in 50 Cent as a pitchman because he was "too urban."
If that attorney's name sounds familiar, it's because it is. The Joe Tacopina accusing Jeter of defrauding an underwear company is the same Joe Tacopina who very loudly defended A-Rod in his fight against Major League Baseball's railroading of the Yankee Great. Despite Frigo bringing in the big guns, Jeter has disputed the claims that he thought 50 Cent was too "urban" for the brand, calling them "categorically false." In fact, Jeter said he was the one who brought 50 Cent into the fold in the first place, so it would make "absolutely no sense" for him to back out because of his involvement.It's hard to imagine a person as brand conscious as Derek Jeter actually saying out loud the things he is accused of here, but who knows. It wouldn't be the first time a beloved athlete shocked and disappointed us. At the very least we hope this story gets fully reported, if only for more sentences like "Jeter's alleged 'gay' misfire was the latest salvo in the raging underwear war."[Page Six]"[Jeter] demanded that [Frigo] not market to the gay community and states that he did not want the Frigo brand to be 'too gay,' " TMZ said, quoting court papers filed Monday.
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Joe Tacopina, the company's high-powered attorney, said that Jeter "defrauded RevolutionWear, blatantly breached the fiduciary duties he owed to it and utterly failed to perform his contract with the company."