Derek Jeter is in the middle of a legal battle with the Frigo underwear brand, which claims in its lawsuit that the former New York Yankees shortstop specifically told the company not to market to the gay community.
In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Frigo claimed that Jeter had already signed a deal, which would have included a director position and making public appearances. However, Jeter didn’t like the marketing strategy.
“[Jeter] demanded that [Frigo] not market to the gay community and states that he did not want the Frigo brand to be 'too gay,’” the lawsuit reads.
This isn’t the first time that controversial parts of the legal battle have surfaced. Last month, TMZ reported that Frigo claimed that Jeter didn’t want rapper 50 Cent as a brand ambassador because he is “too urban.”
Jeter denied making that comment about 50 Cent and has also denied making the “too gay” comment, calling them both “categorically false” in a statement to TMZ.
Frigo is a Swedish company and is seeking $30 million in damages. According to The New York Daily News, the company, which is also known as RevolutionWear, sued Jeter in Sweden first. Then, Jeter filed a sealed lawsuit in Delaware in November, which Frigo answered on Monday.
Frigo attorney Joseph Tacopina sent the following statement to TMZ:
“As demonstrated in the Verified Counterclaims of RevolutionWear filed yesterday, Derek Jeter defrauded RevolutionWear, blatantly breached the fiduciary duties he owed to it and utterly failed to perform his contract with the company.
According to RevolutionWear, Jeter's misconduct caused the company to incur losses of at least $30 million, which the company is seeking as damages in this suit, along with punitive damages for his fraudulent conduct. We look forward to cross-examining Jeter and his representatives under oath to expose his alleged frauds to the public. We also have numerous witnesses who are waiting for their chance to testify about his alleged frauds and misconduct.”