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U.S. soccer legend Megan Rapinoe<\/a> is known as much for her athleticism \u2014 winning two World Cups and two Olympic medals \u2014 as for her longtime advocacy work.<\/a><\/p>\n And she claims the latter just cost her a brand deal. <\/p>\n A few months ago, Rapinoe was packing to fly out for a FIFA World Cup 2026 shoot when she got a call from her agent that they’d pulled her from the spot, she wrote in a July 13 guest piece in Marie Claire.<\/a> The brand, which she didn’t name, had recently implemented artificial intelligence software that “flagged potential talent for ‘risk,'” Rapinoe wrote.<\/p>\n “Mine was that I spoke in support of\u00a0trans rights,”\u00a0she wrote.<\/p>\n “Anti-inclusion politicians have made the conversation around\u00a0trans athletes in sports\u00a0so muddied and full of false fearmongering that brands lacking moral clarity are running from mere association.” <\/p>\n Organizations<\/a> and brands are increasingly using AI to screen celebrities and influencers<\/a> for endorsement risk to avoid potential controversy. <\/p>\n A recent article in Insurance Business magazine<\/a> says so-called celebrity insurance tools address “mounting corporate anxiety over partnerships that can deliver 80 per cent increases in brand recognition \u2014 or wipe out billions in shareholder value within weeks.”<\/p>\n Rapinoe, who described herself as “opinionated” in a previous interview with CBC’s The Sunday Magazine<\/a>, has taken on a number of social and political causes over the years, including equal pay, abortion<\/a> and the rights of trans athletes.<\/p>\n So it’s not necessarily surprising, but it is disappointing that the brand allegedly flagged Rapinoe as a “risk,” said Cheri Bradish, director of the future of sport lab and sport initiatives at Toronto Metropolitan University.<\/p>\n “You would think that they would know the ethos of an athlete,” Bradish said.<\/p>\n “Female athletes, in order to become female athletes, and the movement of female sports, the leaders are all tied to being changemakers and speaking out against societal norms.”<\/p>\n CBC News has reached out to representatives for Rapinoe and not yet heard back.<\/p>\n In 2012, Rapinoe blazed the trail as one of the first professional athletes to come out publicly as gay<\/a> just weeks before leading the U.S. women’s soccer team to a gold medal. <\/p>\n She has been a longtime\u00a0advocate for equal pay for women in U.S. soccer<\/a>. She also sparked national controversy in 2016 for\u00a0kneeling during the national anthem at a match<\/a>\u00a0in solidarity with NFL player Colin Kaepernick. In 2019, she made headlines after saying in an interview that\u00a0she wouldn’t visit Donald Trump’s White House\u00a0<\/a>if her team won the World Cup that year. <\/p>\n By 2020, she was named one of Time Magazine’s<\/a> 100 most influential people.<\/p>\n “In an era where many demand that athletes ‘stick to sports,’ Rapinoe \u2014 a proud feminist and an out gay advocate \u2014 refuses to be silenced,” the magazine wrote.<\/p>\n More recently, she has publicly defended transgender athletes, speaking out forcefully about bans on transgender athletes in sports,<\/a> and dedicating her Time Woman of the Year honour<\/a> to the transgender community in 2023.<\/p>\n “Speaking out pays a price for any athlete,” Bradish said, citing the example of Kaepernick,<\/a> who says the NFL ostracized him after he knelt during the U.S. national anthem in 2016 in response to racism and police brutality in the U.S.<\/p>\n “And I would suggest those on the margins, from different ethnic groups or sexual orientations, do seemingly pay the price.”<\/p>\n In her article, Rapinoe decries a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling<\/a> that upheld laws in Idaho and West Virginia banning transgender women from female sports team. <\/p>\n “These laws are some of the most intense political assaults on LGBTQ+ people in recent years, and they are turning back the clock on our rights, including\u00a0revived threats\u00a0against marriage equality,” she wrote. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784158155_935_default.jpg\")
A mural dedicated to Rapinoe is shown in Mexico City, Mexico. Rapinoe has been vocal on a number of social and political causes over the years, including equal pay, abortion and the rights of trans athletes. (Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images)There’s a price to speaking out<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784158156_1_default.jpg\")
Rapinoe handles the ball against Japan during the women’s gold medal match at the London 2012 Olympic Games at Wembley Stadium on Aug. 9, 2012, in London. (Michael Regan\/Getty Images)A ‘witch hunt’<\/p>\n
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