Reebok

Skechers has agreed to pay $40 million to consumers who purchased its  rocker-bottom shoes under the mistaken belief that the shoes would help give them Kim Kardashian's booty or Joe Montana's stamina. So how do you get your piece of the payout if you purchased the shoes months, if not years ago, and don't have a receipt? No problem. This refund relies largely on the honor system. Anyone who purchased the company's line of Shape-Up shoes -- or its Resistance Runners, Tone-ups or Toners -- is entitled to a partial refund whether they have proof of purchase or not, officials said Thursday.

Rick Ross' controversial lyrics that seemed to promote date rape have resulted in the superstar rapper-mogul being dropped as a spokesman for Reebok. After intense pressure from a number of organizations, including anti-sexism collective UltraViolet, the athletic company announced Thursday that it had parted ways with Ross. "Reebok holds our partners to a high standard, and we expect them to live up to the values of our brand. Unfortunately, Rick Ross has failed to do so," Reebok said.

Rick Ross' controversial lyrics that seemed to promote date rape resulted in the superstar rapper-mogul being dropped as a spokesperson for Reebok. After intense pressure from a number of organizations, including anti-sexism collective UltraViolet, the athletic company announced Thursday it had parted ways with Ross. “Reebok holds our partners to a high standard, and we expect them to live up to the values of our brand. Unfortunately, Rick Ross has failed to do so,” Reebok said in a statement to The Times.

Was it the public outcry that got to him, or Reebok's decision to drop him as a pitchman? In either case, rapper-mogul Rick Ross has issued an apology for lyrics contained in his guest appearance with rapper Rocko on the track "U.O.E.N.O" that seemed to condone date rape. Here's the statement Ross released Friday morning: “Before I am an artist, I am a father, a son, and a brother to some of the most cherished women in the world. So for me to suggest in any way that harm and violation be brought to a woman is one of my biggest mistakes and regrets.

Was it the public outcry that got to him, or Reebok's decision to drop him as a pitchman? In either case, rapper-mogul Rick Ross has issued an apology for lyrics contained in his guest appearance with rapper Rocko on the track "U.O.E.N.O" that seemed to condone date rape. Here's the statement Ross released Friday morning: “Before I am an artist, I am a father, a son, and a brother to some of the most cherished women in the world. So for me to suggest in any way that harm and violation be brought to a woman is one of my biggest mistakes and regrets.

Rick Ross' controversial lyrics that seemed to promote date rape have resulted in the superstar rapper-mogul being dropped as a spokesman for Reebok. After intense pressure from a number of organizations, including anti-sexism collective UltraViolet, the athletic company announced Thursday that it had parted ways with Ross. "Reebok holds our partners to a high standard, and we expect them to live up to the values of our brand. Unfortunately, Rick Ross has failed to do so," Reebok said.

Reebok has stopped holding its breath for "Breathless" Madonna. The rock star, who plays the sensual Breathless Mahoney in the film "Dick Tracy," was dropped late Tuesday as a spokeswoman for the athletic shoe maker even before filming a single commercial. Reebok and Madonna, 31, had previously agreed to--but not signed--a contract that would reportedly have paid her nearly $6 million.

Rick Ross' controversial lyrics will be removed from Atlanta rapper Rocko's "U.O.E.N.O. "  The underground hip-hop artist announced that he would remove Ross from the song that landed the rapper-mogul in hot water for lyrics that seemingly promote date rape. “The record with Ross, that will always be the original record,” he told New York radio station Hot 97 on Tuesday. “Because of the type of traction that the record has as far as radio and all over the country ... it puts me in a position where I have to change it.” Rocko said he hasn't made the final decision as to who will replace Ross on the track (it also features Future)

Commercials have fallen to a new low. At the end of "Double Dare" episodes on Nickelodeon, advertisers are given a few seconds to plug their products. Reebok shows a kid spray-painting its slogan on a brick wall. Doesn't Reebok know that graffiti is not cool? It is vandalism and a crime. Hey, Reebok, thanks for letting ME B ME. From now on, I'll buy Nike. David H. Wagner, Agoura Hills

Average weekly earnings from current endorsement contracts: Tiger Woods (Nike): $385,000 a week for five years George Foreman (Salton): $529,000 a week for five years Grant Hill (Fila): $220,000 a week for seven years Davis Love III (Titleist): $96,000 a week for 10 years Allen Iverson (Reebok): $96,000 a week for 10 years Source: World Features Syndicate

Rick Ross' controversial lyrics that seemed to promote date rape resulted in the superstar rapper-mogul being dropped as a spokesperson for Reebok. After intense pressure from a number of organizations, including anti-sexism collective UltraViolet, the athletic company announced Thursday it had parted ways with Ross. “Reebok holds our partners to a high standard, and we expect them to live up to the values of our brand. Unfortunately, Rick Ross has failed to do so,” Reebok said in a statement to The Times.

Rick Ross' controversial lyrics will be removed from Atlanta rapper Rocko's "U.O.E.N.O. "  The underground hip-hop artist announced that he would remove Ross from the song that landed the rapper-mogul in hot water for lyrics that seemingly promote date rape. “The record with Ross, that will always be the original record,” he told New York radio station Hot 97 on Tuesday. “Because of the type of traction that the record has as far as radio and all over the country ... it puts me in a position where I have to change it.” Rocko said he hasn't made the final decision as to who will replace Ross on the track (it also features Future)

Nike and Reebok, two of the largest players in the sports gear industry, are embroiled in an unholy spat over who gets to make and sell products featuring the name of newly minted New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow. Late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan granted Nike Inc. a temporary restraining order that will prohibit Reebok International from profiting from jerseys and other paraphernalia stamped with the football star's moniker. The order also requires Reebok to recall all Tebow-related Jets gear currently on shelves.

Nike and Reebok, two of the largest players in the sports gear industry, are embroiled in an unholy spat over who gets to make and sell products featuring the name of newly minted New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow. Late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan granted Nike Inc. a temporary restraining order that will prohibit Reebok International from profiting off of jerseys and other paraphernalia stamped with the football star's moniker. The order also forces Reebok to recall all Tebow-related Jets gear currently on shelves.

Reebok International Ltd. has agreed to pay $25 million in refunds to consumers to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission that the company falsely claimed that its toning shoes and other products strengthened muscles. "Consumers expected to get a workout, not to get worked over," David Vladeck, director of the agency's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in announcing the settlement Wednesday. Reebok is one of several companies that have marketed special fitness shoes designed to tone muscles.

Cross those Reebok EasyTone and RunTone shoes off your list of ways to get fit--the company has agreed to pay $25 million in refunds to settle FTC charges that claims that the shoes strengthen and tone muscles were not substantiated. This didn't come as a huge surprise--the American Council on Exercise was onto these shoes last year. The San Diego-based organization published its own study that compared how people responded walking in both traditional athletic shoes and in special toning shoes.

"THERE was this Reebok campaign -- not that I don't have love for Reebok -- but they got their hands on this home video of this little 4-year-old kid who made 20 shots in a row" on an 8-foot-high basketball hoop, says fast-talking Jimmy Tsai. "And, apparently, he got an endorsement deal out of it. I said, 'You're kidding. I could take this kid!' " he says laughing, all 6 feet, 1 inch of him bent over a table at the ArcLight theater in Sherman Oaks. Tsai is the star, co-writer, co-producer, assistant production accountant and occasional janitor of "Ping Pong Playa," a new indie comedy about a hip-hop-obsessed hoopster wannabe with some growing up to do who finds his way as a table tennis terror.

Rather than have his Lakers loll in their hotel rooms -- or wherever -- on a Thursday night here, Phil Jackson piled them all in a bus, took them to dinner and then to a comedy show. Evoking memories of when he took his Chicago Bulls on a ferry ride to Staten Island during a second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks in 1994, Jackson said, "It seemed appropriate, like the right time to do something. We rarely have a full afternoon in Sacramento.

Not news: an English soccer team, up for sale. News: an English soccer team, up for sale on EBay. Fans of Tranmere Rovers were bemused to find their club up for sale on the popular online auction site, a move prompting an angry response from owner Peter Johnson. Earlier this year, Johnson appointed American firm Dornoch Capital to find a buyer for the club but said on Friday he was shocked to discover it had been listed on the website for 6 million pounds (about $10 million U.S.).

Just call him Little Man Tate. Not that anyone standing 6 feet 2 and weighing 236 pounds could ever be classified as little. But California linebacker Zack Follett got some of his inspirational mojo from Reebok's fictional Terry Tate, the "Office Linebacker" star of that vintage 2003 commercial. Follett was asked at the NFL's scouting combine last week in Indianapolis about his excitable style. "I get real pumped up for games," he said.