Lil Wayne canned as Mountain Dew spokesman over ill-advised rap

Lil Wayne has become the latest rapper to lose a lucrative deal over a poor choice of words - the hip-hop star has been canned by PepsiCo bosses after upsetting the family of civil rights icon Emmett Till by referencing the tragic teen in a sexual rhyme.

Wayne made a crude link to the teenager, who was killed in a race attack in 1955, in an ill-advised rap on Future's track Karate Chop, upsetting activists, who called on PepsiCo bosses to drop him as a brand spokesman for their Mountain Dew soda.

Officials at the drinks firm have bowed to the pressure, announcing on Friday (03May13) that they had parted ways with Lil Wayne, stating that his "offensive reference to a revered civil rights icon" does not "reflect the values of our brand".

Lil Wayne's publicist, Sarah Cunningham, has confirmed the rapper no longer has business ties to Mountain Dew, but insisted the two parties had split amicably over "creative differences".

The hip-hop star sent the Till family a letter assuring them he would not reference the dead teen or the family in his music again.

Last month (Apr13), Rick Ross lost his deal with Reebok after officials took offense to his rap about using a date-rape drug to have sex with a woman.

Mountain Dew bosses also pulled a new ad created by hip-hop star Tyler, The Creator earlier this week (beg29Apr13), insisting it portrayed racial stereotypes and made light of violence towards women.

In the ad, a battered white woman attempts to identify a suspect in a police line-up made up of black men and a talking goat, called Felicia, who makes threatening remarks to the victim, such as, "Ya better not snitch on a player".

Following a series of complaints, PepsiCo bosses apologized for airing the ad online.