Conor McGregor’s name and likeness are being dropped from Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey amid calls for boycotts of the Irish sports star after a jury found last week that he assaulted Nikita Hand in Dublin in 2018.
Proximo Spirits, the company that now owns Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey, said on Tuesday that McGregor's name and likeness will no longer be associated with the brand.
McGregor launched the Irish whiskey brand in 2018, but sold his majority stake in it to Proximo in 2021 for a reported $600 million.
“Since 2021, Proximo Spirits has been the 100 percent owner of Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Going forward, we do not plan to use Mr. McGregor’s name and likeness in the marketing of the brand.”
As of Tuesday evening, McGregor's name or likeness is not mentioned on Proximo's landing page for its brand Proper No. Twelve’s Triple Distilled Irish Whiskey.
However, Proximo's news and press landing page prominently features a February 2023 article titled "Conor McGregor Introduces Proper No. Twelve Irish Apple Whiskey."
Screen grab of Proximo's News and Press section on November 26, 2024.
The article, issued through PR Newswire last year, states in part: "The name Proper No. Twelve pays homage to McGregor’s hometown of Crumlin, located in Dublin’s District 12.
"Conor McGregor, Audie Attar, Ken Austin, and Proximo Spirits launched Proper No. Twelve in September 2018. The brand experienced one of the most successful launches in the wine & spirits category, selling 200,000 cases in its first six months on the market."
Meanwhile, the website for Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey - ProperWhiskey.com - is password protected as of Tuesday evening, though it is unclear when the website went under lock and key.
Proximo's announcement that it will no longer be using McGregor's likeness for Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey came on Tuesday a slew of retailers in Ireland began to confirm that they were pulling the Irish sports star's products from their shelves.
Calls to boycott McGregor, led in part by the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI), emerged after the jury ruled in his accuser Nikita Hand's favor on Friday in Dublin. McGregor maintains his innocence.
On Tuesday, Tesco, The Barry Group (which operates Costcutter and Carry Out), and Musgrave (which operates Supervalu, Centra, and Donnybrook Fair brands) all confirmed that they were pulling McGregor's products from sale.
It is now unclear if McGregor's likeness being removed from Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey will see retailers reverse course.
While McGregor's products are being blacklisted in Ireland, his Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey is still available from a number of retailers in the US.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Meijer, Total Wine, Publix, and Albertson's all still had Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey listed for purchase on their websites. Target also has it listed, though it says the whiskey is sold out.
IrishCentral contacted each of these US retailers for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
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