Lil Wayne loses endorsement deal

Lil Wayne has lost a multi-million dollar endorsement deal with an American beverage giant.

The 'Lollipop' rapper - who has epilepsy and suffered another seizure on Tuesday night (30.04.13) - has been dropped by Mountain Dew over controversial lyrics that he penned about historic Mississippi teenager Emmett Till, who was beaten and murdered in a racist attack in 1955 after he allegedly flirted with a white woman.

The soft drinks brand, which is owned by PepsiCo, confirmed they have severed ties with the rapper and dropped their joint 'DeWezzy' campaign on Friday (03.05.13) because he wrote the line 'beat the

y up like Emmett Till' for the remix of Future's track 'Karate Chop', which was leaked online in February.

A spokesperson told UsMagazine.com: 'We do not plan any additional work with Lil Wayne moving forward. His offensive reference to a revered civil rights icon does not reflect the values of our brand.'

The 30-year-old Grammy Award winner apologised to the Till family for the lyrics earlier this month.

He said: 'My lyrics often reference people, places, and events in my music, as well as the music that I create for or alongside other artists. It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist's song has deeply offended your family. As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure.'

Lil Wayne - who nearly died after his heart rate decreased to '30 per cent' in March - was taken to Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, after suffering another single attack this week but assured fans he is fine after being released on Wednesday morning (01.05.13).