Pitbull Might’ve Gotten Florida’s Tourism CEO Fired With a Tweet

Florida officials are calling for tourism reform after learning Pitbull pocketed $1 million to endorse his home state.

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Complex Original

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On Dec. 15, Pitbull tweeted a statement about being paid to endorse the state of Florida, and he seemingly confirmed the endorsement by linking to a redacted contract between Pitbull’s management company, PDR Productions Inc., and the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation. The deal paid Pitbull $1 million for various appearances, a “Sexy Beaches” video, and the right to use the rapper’s likeness while promoting tourism to the state of Florida. Florida Governor Rick Scott cited the lack of transparency in using taxpayer funds for the deal as “ridiculous,” and Friday brought more fallout from the endorsement as Visit Florida CEO Will Seccombe was asked to resign.

“The notion that Visit Florida spending would not be transparent to the taxpayers is just ridiculous,” Scott wrote, in a letter to Visit Florida executive, William Talbert obtained by the Associated Press. “We must have major reforms at Visit Florida in the weeks ahead that require new leadership.” 

Pitbull pointed out he’s represented Florida long before being paid to do so. The Miami-bred rapper also said he insisted the 2015 appearance on Fox’s New Year’s Eve special be filmed in Florida. 

The contract has also caused issues outside of the boardroom, as Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran sued PDR Productions for denying access to the unedited contract.

“The reality is that not one single [piece of] evidence is out there to suggest that there is a correlation between the amount of money we spend on advertising and the amount of tourists," Corcoran told WFTL radio during a recent interview. “This agency didn’t even exist prior to 1996. And guess what, we had tons of tourism. Tourism is determined upon the economy. When people are doing well, they come here more. When they're not doing well, they come here less. It doesn’t matter how much we spend.”

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