Nike to Remove Billboard Ad That Offended Muslim Group
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Shoe manufacturer Nike Inc. agreed Monday to remove a billboard message in South-Central Los Angeles near USC that a national Islamic organization contended was offensive to Muslims.
The billboard features a photograph of former Los Angeles Clippers basketball player John Williams with copy that reads “. . . and they call him Allah.”
Williams, who starred at Crenshaw High School, picked up the nickname as a youth, a Nike spokesman said. He was given the nickname because of his playing ability, the spokesman said, not for religious reasons.
But the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based advocacy organization, objected to the billboard. Nike will remove the billboard promptly, a company spokesman said.
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