Ballerina Misty Copeland is the most recent Under Armour athlete to take offense with the founder’s glowing support of Donald Trump in an interview earlier this week
She took to her Instagram to discuss the importance of diversity, a responsibility that she expects from her sponsors. Copeland is the first African American principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre:
“I have spoken at length with Kevin privately about the matter, but as someone who takes my responsibility as a role model very seriously, it is important to me that he, and UA, take public action to clearly communicate and reflect our common values in order for us to effectively continue to work towards our shared goal of trying to motivate ALL people to be their best selves,” she wrote.
At issue is a comment by Plank on CNBC in which he said: “To have such a pro-business president is something that is a real asset for the country.”
Steph Curry — the sports brand’s highest profile athlete— and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also aired their distaste with Plank’s comments.
“His words were divisive and lacking in perspective,” Johnson wrote in an Instagram post. “Inadvertently creating a situation where the personal political opinions of UA’s partners and its employees were overshadowed by the comments of its CEO.”