Heineken pulls support from baseball team over Ocasio-Cortez video

The Fresno Grizzlies baseball team has lost another sponsor as it continues to face backlash over a video that aired during a recent game that featured Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) face among those such as Kim Jong Un and Fidel Castro as “enemies of freedom.”

Heineken International said in a statement to The Fresno Bee on Thursday that both Tecate and Dos Equis, two brands it owns, will no longer be sponsoring the team following the video’s broadcast at its Memorial Day game this week.

“Both Tecate and Dos Equis were sponsors of the Fresno Grizzlies,” the company said. 

{mosads}“We do not support those views expressed in the video, that was aired during the Fresno Grizzlies game on Memorial Day. For that reason, we have ended this relationship, effective immediately and have let the team know of our decision,” it added.

The news comes shortly after raisin company Sun-Maid announced on Wednesday that it would be pulling its sponsorship from the minor league team over the video. 

“We are deeply disappointed by the Memorial Day tribute video the Fresno Grizzlies aired on Monday,” the raisin company said. “Sun-Maid does not support the views or sentiments expressed in the video, nor does it condone the airing of it.”

“While the Grizzlies have apologized for this mistake, we are standing on the side of what we believe is right and terminating our sponsorship of the team,” the company added. 

Since the video’s broadcast on Monday, the California team has apologized to the freshman lawmaker, saying in a statement that it was “embarrassed” for allowing the clip to play “without seeing it in its entirety first.”

“It was a mistake and we will ensure that nothing like it ever happens again,” the team said. 

Ocasio-Cortez also responded to the video’s broadcast in a tweet on Tuesday morning, saying she receives death threats inspired by “hateful messages” seen in videos like these.

“What people don’t (maybe do) realize is when orgs air these hateful messages, my life changes bc of the flood of death threats they inspire,” she wrote. 

“I‘ve had mornings where I wake up & the 1st thing I do w/ my coffee is review photos of the men (it’s always men) who want to kill me,” she said.