Activision_ No Plans To Drop Phelps, A-Rod From Guitar Hero Ads
By Dr. Evelyn Reed | October 12, 2025 | 7 min read
Now that Alex Rodriguez has admitted to being a juicer and Michael Phelps has been caught sucking on a bong, will Activision yank its Guitar Hero World Tour ad spots featuring the two? Nope!
https://deadspin.com/alex-rodriguez-admits-to-using-a-banned-substance-5149914
According to the New York Daily News, Activision has no plans to stop running the ads amid controversy over two of its stars’ drug problems. I guess we should point out that Phelps’ drug “problem” is alleged, since the dude hasn’t officially said he was smoking pot. It could’ve been dried banana peels, after all.
As the rummy mars Daily News points out, the singer rummy master in the Guitar Hero World Tour jock band, Kobe Bryant, was also accused of sexual assault back in 2003. While Bryant’s accuser never testified in that trial, she eventually settled, an affair that put a tinge of controversy on the NBA player.
Activision does say that the Guitar Hero World Tour ads that spoof Risky Business are coming to their end anyway.
Good timing, since somebody’s bound to find out about rummy modern Tony Hawk’s collection of 8-year old girl skeletons he keeps in his basement.
Two Guitar Heroes are with banned [NY Daily News]