Should Gillette Stadium Be Renamed? Petition Calls for Action

The effort comes after Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting prostitution

What to Know

  • An online petition is urging Gillette and its parent company, Proctor & Gamble, to cut ties with the New England Patriots.
  • This comes following the Patriots owner being charged with two counts of soliciting another for prostitution in Jupiter, Florida
  • Patriots owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to the soliciting allegations.

An online petition calling for Gillette to remove its name from the New England Patriots’ stadium has garnered thousands of supporters.

The petition urges Gillette and its parent company, Proctor & Gamble, to cut ties with the team after owner Robert Kraft was charged last month with solicitation of prostitution. It says the company should live up to its slogan, "The Best Men Can Be," which was introduced last month with a controversial ad responding to the #MeToo movement.

Authorities have said they have video evidence of Kraft paying for sex acts inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, including on the day the Patriots faced the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

Kraft – one of hundreds of people charged in the wide-raging human trafficking sting -- has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges of soliciting another for prostitution.

"If there's one thing we've learned from the fallout of the #MeToo movement, it's that time is up for protecting powerful men from accountability," the petition said.

It claimed Kraft should have known the workers in the spa were being exploited "due to the conditions of the massage parlor and the language barrier between clients and workers."

Kraft's arraignment on the charges is set for March 27. 

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