Yankees Derek Jeter Locked In A Battle Over Underwear

Former Yankees shortstop, Derek Jeter, managed to survive twenty years under the glare of the New York media. However, he now finds himself locked in a court battle with suits and countersuits and numbers like $30 million thrown around. And it’s all about underwear.

Former Yankees All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter is estimated by Forbes Magazine to have generated $400 million in total career earnings, including $130 million from endorsement partners like Nike’s Jordan Brand, Gatorade, Rawlings, Steiner Sports and Movado.

Since his retirement from the Yankees, Jeter has continued to fly under the radar, maintaining a low profile except for the brief flurry of attention that was given to his wedding. Now, it appears that streak may be broken.

According to Law360, papers have been filed in Deleware in which:

"“Derek Jeter asked the Delaware Chancery Court late Monday to impose “severe” sanctions on the marketer of luxury undergarment brand Frigo, claiming the company is not making good on its agreement to pay his legal fees from a fight over endorsing the underwear.In his motion, Jeter asked the court to find RevolutionWear Inc. — the luxury underwear marketer that counted the baseball star among celebrities such as 50 Cent and Timbaland as investors — in contempt for “habitually violating” orders.”"

So far, no harm, no foul. These things happen when large amounts of money are at stake, and things don’t always go the way “partners” in a deal expected them to develop.

But, here’s the kicker. According to TMZ, “[Jeter] demanded that [Frigo] not market to the gay community and states that he did not want the Frigo brand to be ‘too gay.'”

TMZ also claims that the underwear company claims Jeter also pitched a fit when it selected 50 Cent as a brand ambassador because he felt it would make the brand “too urban” … allegations Jeter denied.

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Jeter says the claims are “categorically false” telling Page Six … the accusation is absurd because, “I facilitated the introductory meeting between 50 Cent and the company, so it makes absolutely no sense that I would object to 50 Cent.”

The problem, of course, is Derek Jeter telling Page Six anything about anything. And beyond that, lurking in the background is the natural transition anyone can make from “too urban” to too black. Whether in code or not, the inference is out there and the reputation of Jeter is on the line.

And that’s probably why he’s not taking this sitting down. It can’t be about the money, Jeter has plenty of that. But what has to matter to him most has to be the attack on him personally, after all these years with the Yankees.

Unfortunately, this is bound to turn into one of those “He said, She said” battles in which no one can win.

Next: Who's Next To Be Run Out Of Town?

After all these years.