Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a “The Rock,” is facing a cease and desist from Olympians claiming his relaunched XFL logo was stolen from their branding, soccer star Megan Rapinoe said Thursday.
The football league released a new “together” campaign, promising to reveal “a bold brand identity, signaling a new vision for the forward-thinking league,’” the New York Post reported. But the Olympians behind “lifestyle and youth culture” brand TogethXR — Alex Morgan, Simone Manuel, Chloe Kim, and Sue Bird — seem to believe that the logo was ripped from their branding.
Rapinoe, who is married to Bird, took the complaint to Twitter.
“Welp. This is awkward,” the hyper-political soccer player wrote, captioning a screenshot of the XFL’s branding announcement. “Only thing [The Rock] and [XFL 2023] are gonna be cookin’ up is a response to the Cease and Desist and an ENTIRE new brand ID. [Togethxr] got this on lock boys.”
“Rapinoe’s tweet effectively serves as an unofficial ‘cease and desist’ shot before the athletes involved with the TogethXR brand formalizes the letter, which would be a precursor to potential intellectual property litigation,” the Post reported.
Welp. This is awkward. Only thing @TheRock and @XFL2023 are gonna be cookin up is a response to the Cease and Desist and an ENTIRE new brand ID. @togethxr got this on 🔒 boys. pic.twitter.com/klItJO2fJ5
— Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) April 8, 2022
Morgan and Bird unleashed tweets of their own complaining about the logo, too.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I guess? 🤦♀️
Shout out to my team at @togethxr for creating a bad ass brand name, logo, and background story that resonates for so many 👀 https://t.co/QP6f0cGU3h— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) April 8, 2022
Well doesn’t this looks familiar 🧐🥸@XFL2023 @togethxr @TheRock pic.twitter.com/MDv77qypYE
— Sue Bird (@S10Bird) April 7, 2022
Johnson made news in February when he seemed to retract public support he gave to targeted podcast host Joe Rogan over supposed COVID “misinformation” from “The Joe Rogan Experience” episodes.
“Great stuff here brother,” the actor commented on a video from Rogan addressing the backlash. “Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.”
Days later, though, Johnson suggested he no longer supported Rogan over the host’s past use of the N-word on his show. Notably, Rogan said in a reaction video that he never used the word in a “racist” manner, but was generally quoting others or talking about the word, and felt remorse for using the word at all.
“Dear [The Rock], You’re a hero to many people and using your platform to defend Joe Rogan, a guy that used and laughed about using the N word dozens of times, is a terrible use of your power,” author Don Winslow tweeted at Johnson. “Have you actually listened to this man’s many racist statements about Black people?”
Johnson responded, “Dear [Don Winslow]. Thank you so much for this I hear you as well as everyone here 100%,” he wrote. “I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now I’ve become educated to his complete narrative.”
“Learning moment for me,” the actor added. “Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend. DJ.”
Related: ‘The Rock’ Seems To Retract Support For Joe Rogan After Backlash: ‘Learning Moment For Me’
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