WWE icon The Rock’s football league has landed itself in hot water after the XFL was hit with a legal notice over their use of branding.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and business partner Dany Garcia became part owners of the XFL along with RedBird Capital Partners in August 2020, just three months after the league’s future looked all but dead after the previous owner WWE Chairman Vince McMahon plunged the company into bankruptcy.
Now the XFL has been hit by another controversy with media and commerce company TOGETHXR taking issue with recent branding that the football league has used. Central to their concern is a graphic used by the XFL to show an X split in half with the words “coming together” between the letter. This, TOGETHXR contends is too similar to branding already used by themselves.
A statement from TOGETHXR issued on social media addressed the issue and confirmed that they have sent a “legal notice” to the XFL:
“Too often the work and creativity of women is overlooked and undervalued.
Diversity and equality are the norm around here. We’re thrilled to see the XFL embrace inclusivity but this rebrand ain’t it.
We’ve issued a legal notice and will continue to protect the important work we’re doing.”
TOGETHXR was formed by American sports stars Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Chloe Kim, and Simone Manuel. The company website says it is an “unapologetic platform where representation and equality is the norm.” TOGETHXR also states its aim is to “shatter the often narrow depictions of women in the media with content featuring a diverse and inclusive community of game-changers, culture-shapers, thought leaders, and barrier breakers.”