Consequences

Pro golfer Scott Piercy bleeding sponsors after taking homophobic swing at Pete Buttigieg

Pro golfer Scott Piercy issued an apology for publishing a homophobic meme mocking Democratic Presidential Candidate and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg earlier this week, but apparently that wasn’t enough to keep several of his sponsors from jumping ship.

On Monday, 41-year-old Piercy, who has played professional golf with the PGA since 2008, published a meme featuring alt-right icon Pepe the Frog and a picture of Buttigieg along with the caption, “Peter pulls out early from behind.”

A backlash quickly ensued and Piercy issued a hasty non-apology, saying: “Whenever I post my intent is NEVER to offend. I want to apologize if any of my recents [sic] story posts have been offensive. I will do better!”

Now, at least three sponsors have cut ties with the four-time PGA Tour winner.

Golf.com reports that Titleist, FootJoy, and Scandinavian fashion brand J.Lindeberg have all terminated their endorsement deals with Piercy.

“The claims from Scott Piercy were unacceptable and far from our views and beliefs. We have since terminated our contract with Mr. Piercy,” J.Lindeberg said in a statement.

It continued: “We, J.Lindeberg, as a company do not stand by the statements made by Piercy and we want to make sure our customers, employees, and other ambassadors know we support all communities and have no room for hate or discrimination in our company.”

Titleist and FootJoy, both longtime Piercy sponsors, declined to comment on why they severed ties but both confirmed the ended their contracts with Piercy immediately after he made the remarks.

The PGA Tour released a statement to Golf Digest saying it was “made aware of Scott’s posts and are disappointed in the lack of judgement used.” It remains to be seen if his comments violated the Tour’s “conduct unbecoming a professional” policy.

Related: Pro golfer Scott Piercy posts homophobic meme, immediately backpedals

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