PepsiCo (Mountain Dew) Drops Lil Wayne

Seems the big corporations are stepping up on their attitude to rappers with offensive lyrics.  PepsiCo has dropped troubled rapper Lil Wayne just 2 days after his publicist wrote an “apology” letter to the family of 14-year-old civil rights icon Emmett Till.

PepsiCo, which distributes Mountain Dew, said in a statement late Friday that Wayne’s offensive comparison of Till to a violent sexual act on Future’s “Karate Chop” remix did “not reflect the values of our brand.”

In the “apology” letter, the publicist wrote, “Moving forward, I will not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in my music, especially in an inappropriate manner.” and concluded with, “…my ultimate intention is to uplift rather than degrade our community.”

But Till’s family dismissed the letter, saying it was a step short of an apology.

Lil Wayne Issues Apology To Emmet Till's Family

A few months ago, the family of civil rights’ figure Emmet Till expressed their disappointment with Lil Wayne for using Emmet’s name in the offensive lyric,”beat the p-ssy up like Emmet Till.” Although they lobbied for an apology, they never received one personally from Lil Wayne, and as time went by the issue seemed to have been swept under the rug.

This week, Emmet’s family decided they would try to hit Wayne where it hurts –his pockets, and after they requested that his biggest sponsor Mountain Dew drop him from his endorsement, they received the apology they were waiting for. In a statement to the Till family, Wayne wrote: