UA requests magazine to pull issue off shelves

By Bob Holt

Posted: December 16, 2009 at 5:38 p.m.
Updated: December 16, 2009 at 5:47 p.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas has requested Celebrate Arkansas magazine to immediately stop publication and distribution of its December issue that contains pictures of three basketball players that could be construed as advertisements, and also take all necessary steps feasible to retrieve copies of the magazine from stores where it is on sale.

The request is included in a letter dated Dec. 15, and was sent from UA associate general counsel Scott Varady to Mari Taylor, editor and publisher of Celebrate Arkansas.

Taylor said Wednesday her magazine will cooperate fully with Arkansas, but she wasn’t specific about whether the magazines already on sale will be pulled from stores.

A copy of Varady’s letter to Taylor was obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette through a freedom of information request.

Arkansas self-reported an NCAA secondary violation involving improper use of the images of Razorbacks Rotnei Clarke, Courtney Fortson and Jeff Peterson in Celebrate Arkansas. The violation does not affect the players’ eligibility, Arkansas said in a news release.

Photos of the players in a fashion shoot in the magazine were accompanied by captions naming the stores that provided the clothes. The captions said each player’s “look” was available at that store. Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey also appeared in the fashion spread, and the photos were taken at Walton Arena. Clarke is on the magazine’s cover.

The UA's request to Celebrate Magazine falls in line with the school complying with NCAA rules directing a school to take appropriate steps after a violation has occurred. Pelphrey and his players did not have prior knowledge of any "non-editorial use" of the images as part of the article, the university said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. Athletic department officials also did not have prior knowledge of any non-editorial use of the photos and no compensation was provided by the media outlet for the article or the accompanying photos, according to the UA.

Stay with WholeHogSports.com and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.

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