LONDON (AP) — Two companies have cut ties with Conor McGregor after a civil court jury in Ireland ruled last week that he must pay nearly 250,000 Euros ($257,000) to a woman who accused the mixed martial arts fighter of raping her.
Proximo Spirits, the owner of Irish whiskey brand Proper No. 12, will no longer feature McGregor’s name or image on the drink.
“Going forward, we do not plan to use Mr. McGregor’s name and likeness in the marketing of the brand,” the company told the Irish Independent newspaper.
Video game developer IO Interactive also ended its collaboration with McGregor, who had played the role of a fighter in the game “Hitman.”
“In light of the recent court ruling regarding Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has made the decision to cease its collaboration with the athlete, effective immediately,” the company said in a statement on X. “We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its implications. Consequently, we will begin removing all content featuring Mr. McGregor from our storefronts starting today.”
It follows the ruling last Friday in a civil case where Nikita Hand claimed McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in a Dublin hotel penthouse in 2018.
Hand said the alleged assault after a night of partying left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The 36-year-old McGregor testified that he never forced the woman to do anything against her will and said she fabricated the allegations after the two had consensual sex.
The jury of eight women and four men found him liable for assault after deliberating about six hours in the High Court in Dublin.
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Nikita Hand, who is also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, leaves the High Court in Dublin, Ireland, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, after a civil jury found that mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor sexually assaulted her in a hotel penthouse after a night of heavy partying. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court in Dublin, Ireland, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
BERLIN (AP) — The eldest son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit is to be released from custody after his arrest last week on rape allegations, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported Wednesday.
At the same time, however, Oslo police began an investigation into a new alleged sexual offense for which he has not been charged, NRK reported. Details about the new allegations were not immediately available.
Marius Borg Høiby is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and the son of Mette-Marit from a previous relationship. He has no royal title or official duties.
Borg Høiby was arrested last week in Oslo on a preliminary charge of having had “sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act.” A preliminary charge comes before a formal charge and allows authorities to detain suspects during an investigation.
At the time, police did not say when the alleged rape occurred, but only that “the victim must have been unable to resist the act.” Norwegian media reported that Borg Høiby has denied the accusation.
Prosecutor Andreas Kruszewski said in a press release on Wednesday that during the week Borg Høiby has been in custody, police reviewed the evidence they seized in connection with his arrest and have also conducted a significant number of witness interviews, according to Norwegian news agency NTB.
The agency also said police reportedly found videos on Borg Høiby’s cell phone that allegedly show the assaults. He denies the accusations.
The royal palace had no comment regarding the recent allegations, NTB said.
On Wednesday, police said they would not seek further detention of Borg Høiby because there was no indication that important evidence would be removed, NRK reported.
“This was not surprising. He shouldn’t have been imprisoned at all,” Øyvind Bratlien, Høiby’s defense attorney, told NRK. He said Borg Høiby would likely be released later Wednesday.
On Aug. 4, police officers responded to a disturbance in downtown Oslo and briefly detained Borg Høiby. He faced preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage and was released. Details were unclear but police said there was “a relationship between the suspect and the victim.”
More preliminary charges have since been filed against Borg Høiby, including violating several restraining orders and driving without a valid driver’s license. In all, the cases involve four women and one man.
The case was top news in Norway, where the royals are popular.
Borg Høiby, 27, lives with the royal couple and their two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
Norway’s future queen made headlines in 2001 when she married Haakon because she was a single mother who had lived a freewheeling life with a companion who had been convicted on drug charges.
FILE - Norway's Marius Borg Hoiby and Crown Princess Mette-Marit in Oslo, June 16, 2022. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP, File)
