LWC Drinks, the UK’s largest independent drinks retailer, has exclusively revealed to the MailOnline that it will be joining the growing industry-wide shunning of Conor McGregor affiliated drinks, Daily mail reports.
According to the report by Daily Mail, supplying over 15,000 UK businesses with their alcohol products, the announcement from LWC drinks comes as the latest in a spate of recent blows to the Irish fighter’s commercial brand.
The decision to cease its sale of and association with both Proper 12 Irish Whiskey and Forged Irish Stout comes after McGregor lost his civil rape case against Nikita Hand in Irish court last week.
In a scathing statement shared with the MailOnline, LWC drinks said that it does not want to be ‘associated’ with the former two-division UFC champion and his stout product.
The statement in full read: ‘In light of Friday’s civil court ruling against Conor McGregor, LWC drinks, the UK’s largest independent drinks wholesaler has taken the necessary legal steps to terminate its agreement to distribute Forged Irish Stout.
‘We are consulting with our customers to support them in the replacement of Forged draught taps. LWC drinks does not want to be associated with Conor McGregor or Forged Irish Stout’.
This news comes days after the MailOnline exclusively revealed that UK food delivery service Ocado and supermarket chains Tesco and Asda, who combined boast almost 5,000 UK-based stores, were distancing themselves from McGregor and removing his affiliated products from their shelves.
Additionally, prominent pub chain JD Wetherspoon announced on Wednesday that they too would be removing Conor McGregor’s affiliated alcoholic beverages from their pubs in the Republic of Ireland.
McGregor had been the face of both the Proper 12 whiskey and Forged Irish Stout brands, appearing in advertisements and promotional material across a host of platforms, with the whiskey named after McGregor’s home postal district in Dublin.
The mixed martial artist last week lost a civil sexual assault case against Nikita Hand, a verdict which saw Hand awarded almost €250,000 in damages after she alleged that McGregor sexually assaulted her on December 9, 2018.
McGregor has been accused of sex attacks on four other occasions, all of which were dismissed by police, most recently in Miami last year at the NBA Finals.
In every case he has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and on at least one occasion sources close to him said allegations of sexual assault were mendacious and money-related.
However, on this occasion the jury at the High Court in Dublin returned a verdict that McGregor did assault Ms Hand.
Following eight days of evidence and a further three of listening to closing speeches and the judge’s comments, the jury of eight women and four men spent just over six hours deliberating before returning with its verdict.
As the verdict was read out, McGregor shook his head, whilst Ms Hand cried and was hugged by her partner and supporters.
In emotional scenes outside the court following the verdict, Ms Hand told reporters said she was ‘overwhelmed and touched’ by the support she had received.
She added: ‘I want to show [my daughter] Freya and every other young girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and that justice will be served’.
The Proper 12 Irish Whiskey brand was first launched back in 2018 by McGregor, with the fighter and his team eventually selling the brand for a reported sale price of roughly £500 million.
McGregor himself pocketed an estimated £120 million in the deal when selling his majority stake, but has remained a prominent promoter of the whiskey since its 2021 acquisition by Proximo Spirits.
The former two-division UFC champion also currently owns a business empire in his native Ireland which boasts the popular Dublin pub The Blackforge Inn as its public-facing crown.
McGregor has spent an estimated £2.5 million purchasing and renovating the venue on Dublin’s Longmile Road which has become the social media backdrop for the fighter’s online promoting of both Proper 12 whiskey and Forged Irish Stout.
A number of other leading UK retailers have been contacted by the MailOnline but are yet to comment as to whether or not they will continue to stock both of McGregor’s affiliated drinks.