The “Let’s Go Brandon” saga has reached a very predictable point.
NASCAR has denied Brandon Brown—the unintentional origin of the right-wing ‘joke’—or more specifically one of his proposed sponsors from using the phrase that is now a thinly veiled insult against President Joe Biden.
Let’s Go Brandon Coin (LGBCoin) a new cryptocurrency sought to sponsor the driver, but NASCAR did not approve the deal.
NASCAR has denied a request by Brandon Brown\u2019s Xfinity Series team to feature a sponsor promoting \u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon,\u201d a viral slogan that\u2019s coded criticism of President Joe Biden.https://www.wbtv.com/2022/01/05/nascar-said-no-lets-go-brandon-sponsorship-now-sponsor-is-threatening-sue/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=wbtv\u00a0\u2026— WBTV News (@WBTV News) 1641423720
This whole story began when Brown was being interviewed for a post-race win last October. The crowd behind him started chanting “F*** Joe Biden!”
The NBC Sports reporter conducting the interview suggested to Brown that they were actually chanting “Let’s go Brandon!” to cheer on the driver for his win. After this, due to right-wing attempts at humor, the phrase started being used everywhere.
After getting stuck with the association, some have suggested Brown should sue NASCAR and NBC for putting him in this position then denying him the sponsor.
Brandon Brown should Sue NBC, and maybe even NASCAR.\nBrandon is an innocent bystander. It was a stupid NBC reporter who started all of this \u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon\u201dhttps://twitter.com/jeff_gluck/status/1478537569373593604\u00a0\u2026— Chuck (@Chuck) 1641394911
seems White House called #Nascar and said, No to Let's Go Brandon on car. \nBrandon should "SUE" the reporter that Lied about chant and destroyed his getting a sponsor in spineless @Nascar \n\n(nascar gets about $10m/yr from gov funding) they JUMP when WH calls— What will change if Rs win House..zero (@What will change if Rs win House..zero) 1641210333
THAT REPORTER KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE SAYING. IT WAS HITLER'S GESTAPOS WHO TOLD THE REPORTER WHAT TO SAY. BROWN SHOULD SUE THE NETWORK.https://patriotfetch.com/2022/01/nascar-bans-brandon-browns-lets-go-brandon-sponsorship-over-politics/\u00a0\u2026— Tony Vincent (@Tony Vincent) 1641428550
Except it isn’t NASCAR or NBC’s fault the phrase became a vulgar phrase. That blame rests squarely with the conservative base that turned the phrase into an unfunny meme.
So, no, he probably shouldn’t sue.
NASCAR said no to \u2018Let\u2019s Go Brandon\u2019 sponsorship. Now sponsor is threatening to sue https://news.yahoo.com/nascar-says-no-let-brandon-021455655.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr\u00a0\u2026 via @Yahoo \n\nThey can sue all they want but NASCAR has the right to reject any sponsor they don't want, it's in their rule book so maybe these morons should read the rules— Darrell (@Darrell) 1641423003
They have the right to refuse the sponsor.\n\nNASCAR said no to \u2018Let\u2019s Go Brandon\u2019 sponsorship. Now sponsor is threatening to sue https://news.yahoo.com/nascar-says-no-let-brandon-021455655.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr\u00a0\u2026 via @Yahoo— commonsensesgt (@commonsensesgt) 1641400615
On top of all of this, Brown was told as far back as November that NASCAR would refuse any association with the phrase. Both NASCAR and Brown have expressed a desire to remain out of politics.
However, Brown has had trouble securing sponsorships due to his association with the meme. James Koutoulas, LGBcoin investor, helped secure Brown the sponsorship from the fledgling cryptocurrency.
After NASCAR came out against the sponsorship, Koutoulas revealed an email exchange with Senior Racing Operations Manager, Dale Howell, where it seemed the sponsorship was tentatively approved.
However, Howell didn’t seem to understand the secret message of LGBCoin. Once another official saw the sponsorship proposal, the deal was squashed.
Koutoulas' tweeted a threat of lawsuit:
The @brandonbrown_68 went through proper @NASCAR approval process and received formal written approval. If @nascar revokes approval, we will bring suit upon them on behalf of all @LGBcoin_io HODLers who were damaged by their reliance on @nascar written approval & #cancelnascar https://twitter.com/bobpockrass/status/1478534847421419524\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/3ooI4VTSMG— James Koutoulas (@James Koutoulas) 1641345998
This leaves Brown in an awkward, but predictable situation.
I fully agreed with you...until he decided to lean into it with this sponsor.— Robert Tyson (@Robert Tyson) 1641346574
This lawsuit will go nowhere. As @DocPunchESPN once said, "Anybody I've ever known that's ever tried to play hardball with #NASCAR loses, because they own the ball and they own the playing court, so you're not going to win.https://twitter.com/jameskoutoulas/status/1478538398386245635\u00a0\u2026— Christopher DeHarde (@Christopher DeHarde) 1641350818
Brandon Brown had and interesting story of how a political statement was hurting his racing career and he wished it would go away, then decided to use the political statement for personal gain and look like a sell out, all for it to not matter in the end. \n\nFlawless...— Your 2022 Pal Brian (@Your 2022 Pal Brian) 1641405657
Grifting 101 is to file suit when your grift is denied to the party because your grift is transparent.— Matt Trewartha (@Matt Trewartha) 1641350087
Reading comprehension isn\u2019t one of your strengths, is it?— Lord Voldemort (@Lord Voldemort) 1641349960
It never stood a chance and Brown's group knew that.— Matt Young (@Matt Young) 1641346420
It’s fairly rare for NASCAR to take such a hardline stance as it did in November, when it banned Brown from using the phrase. The company has approved both cryptocurrency sponsors and right-wing political sponsors.
However, it’s likely the implied curse in the joke that makes them hesitant this time around. NASCAR is now in the process of reviewing its rules regarding sponsorships, including political sponsorships going forward.
