Despite apologizing for his vulgar lyrical reference to the slain Civil Rights figure Emmett Till, Mountain Dew has officially dropped Lil Wayne as a spokesman over the offensive rap line.
In February, Lil Wayne compared Till's racially charged attack against his own sexual prowess. Back in 1955, 14-year-old Till was the victim of a vicious hate crime. Accused of whistling at a white woman during a family visit in Mississippi, the young boy was tortured and killed because he was African American. In a remix of the hit "Karate Chop" by Atlanta rapper Future, Wayne said that he would "beat the [expletive] up like Emmett Till."
After months of criticism over the lyric, Weezy released an apology letter to the Till family.
"It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist's song has deeply offended your family. As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure," he wrote.
"I would like to take a moment to acknowledge your hurt, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys."
In his letter, Wayne wrote that he would "not be performing the lyrics that contain that reference live and have removed them from my catalogue."
However, Mountain Dew's parent company, PepsiCo, has issued a statement Friday saying, "We do not plan any additional work with Lil Wayne moving forward," reports the Chicago Tribune. "His offensive reference to a revered civil rights icon does not reflect the values of our brand."
Mountain Dew also recentlly dropped another hip hop artist, Tyler, the Creator, over controversy after critics said that his advertisement for the soda portrayed racist stereotypes.