Worst Celebrity Endorsement Snafus
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant (L) defends against Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James during the second half of their NBA basketball game in Los Angeles December 25, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)
Basketball star Kobe Bryant is at the center of a scandal once again. But this time he's in trouble with . . . Armenians?
The L.A. Lakers star signed a lucrative endorsement deal to become the face of Turkish Airlines as it launches nonstop flights between Istanbul and Los Angeles.
But Los Angeles is home to a large population of Armenians, many of whom who believe Turkey committed genocide against the ethnic group in a massacre beginning in 1915.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Needless to say, they want Kobe to back out of the deal.
SODAHEAD SLIDESHOW: See the biggest celebrity endorsement fails.
"Armenian Americans hope that Kobe would balance what clearly looks to be a profitable business deal with a strong moral statement against Turkey's violations of human rights, including, of course, its ongoing denial of the Armenian genocide," the Armenian Youth Federation said on their website.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But we doubt Kobe will bow to the 30 or so Armenian protesters who showed up to a recent game.
From Kobe to Tiger Woods to Michael Jackson, let us know: Who had the biggest celebrity endorsement FAIL?