Coca-Cola is the first corporate sponsor to drop NBA star Ja Morant as the fallout continues from his strip club incident.
Morant, 23, was dumped by Coca-Cola after The New York Post published surveillance images of the Memphis Grizzlies star spending $50,000 on dancers at a Denver strip club.
According to a Coca-Cola executive in Atlanta, the image of a shirtless NBA player being serviced by a stripper does not align with the soft drink company’s family values.
RELATED: Update: Ja Morant faces 50 game suspension for bringing gun on team plane
The strip club released surveillance images showing one stripper giving the point guard a lap dance in a private VIP area. Cash littered the floor and booths inside the nearly empty room.
Owner of Shotgun Willie’s claims Ja Morant spent over $50,000 on tips a few weeks ago:
“This kid, real young, was exceptionally respectful, and sweet and he did not drink…He’s marvelous.” pic.twitter.com/jEUHeseLok
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) March 12, 2023
Morant visited the strip club on March 3 with his entourage, the night his team lost to the Denver Nuggets. That’s when he flashed a handgun in a livestream video that got him in hot water with the team.
The owner of Shotgun Willie’s in Denver was heavily criticized for releasing images from Morant’s previous visit — on March 2nd — the night Morant and the team landed in Colorado. The owner praised Morant as “exceptionally respectful, and sweet and he did not drink… He’s marvelous.”
According to The NY Post, Morant arrived 80 minutes after the team’s plane landed, got a private room, and threw cash everywhere. A shirtless Morant is seen getting a lap dance in one of the images. The private room cost $900 for three hours.
The Grizzlies suspended Morant indefinitely when the video went viral 2 weeks ago. After attending rehab, he is expected to return to the team at the end of March.
