La Sportiva has ended its relationship with Joe Kinder and has removed him from its brand ambassador roster amid claims of cyberbullying. The professional rock climber admitted he had a private meme account on Instagram, which he and a small group of followers would use to post inside jokes making fun of people. That account has since been deleted. Kinder has also publicly apologized via Instagram, saying he has always had a harsh sense of humor, but with no intention to offend or harm anyone. One of Kinder's alleged victims was Sasha DiGiulian, a female professional rock climber. DiGiulian went public about Kinder's “malicious and ongoing” posting after reaching out to him privately on multiple occasions, she said. Prior to being dropped by La Sportiva, Kinder was dropped by Black Diamond, another sponsor.

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