It looks like the ladies of the WNBA and soccer world were not playing around.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson relaunched the XFL while releasing a new “together” campaign, promising that it “reveals a bold brand identity, signaling a new vision for the forward-thinking league.” However, American soccer megastar Megan Rapinoe stated back in April that his violates the exclusive intellectual property rights of a company co-founded by her wife, WNBA player Sue Bird.
“Welp. This is awkward,” Rapinoe tweeted, with a screengrab of the XFL’s branding announcement from LinkedIn. “Only thing @TheRock and @XFL2023 are gonna be cookin up is a response to the Cease and Desist and an ENTIRE new brand ID. @togethxr got this on lock boys.”
Fast forward to June and Sue Bird’s TOGETHXR company has officially filed a lawsuit, according to TMZ.
More from the report:
“The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, was filed on Wednesday — nearly four weeks after Bird and her fiancée, Megan Rapinoe, threatened to get lawyers involved following the XFL’s creation of a new “X” logo.
In the lawsuit, TOGETHXR — a media org. co-founded by Bird, Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim and Simone Manuel — says the football league’s logo, which was debuted on April 6, looks and feels “confusingly similar to TOGETHXR’s brand and logo.”
They included in the docs a side-by-side of the logos … and said they made “repeated attempts” to contact the XFL and its legal team over it all.
But, in the docs, attorneys for TOGETHXR said the XFL has “failed to acknowledge that it has tread on TOGETHXR’s rights” — and now, they want a court to step in and force the league to stop using the X logo … plus damages.”
The Rock has not responded to any of the claims as of yet.
The XFL was first set up in 2001 but lasted just one season before McMahon revived the league in 2020. Covid-19 forced the season to be suspended just five weeks in and cash flow problems saw the WWE boss’ private company Alpha Entertainment file for bankruptcy in April two years ago.
The XFL was up for auction and Johnson as well as his ex-wife swooped in and purchased it.
“With my trail blazing partner @DanyGarciaCo & RedBird Capital, we have acquired the XFL,” Johnson wrote on Twitter at the time.
“With gratitude & passion I’ve built a career with my own two hands and will apply these callouses to our @xfl2020 brand.
“Excited to create something special for the fans!”
