The company that makes an iced tea named after one of the stars of the “Duck Dynasty” reality show is blaming the conservative clan for its bankruptcy, CNN Money reported on Thursday.
Kentucky-based beverage company Chinook USA, which paid $1.7 million for the rights to make Uncle Si’s Iced Tea, alleged that Silas Robertson and the rest of the Duck Commander family failed to plug the product as promised, according to CNN Money.
The suit said Robertson was “not available” for TV appearances and that the family-run duck-call business improperly signed sponsorship deals with competing beverage companies.
The conservative icons were “so obsessed by self-promotion and self-gratification” that they overextended themselves, the lawsuit alleged.
Duck Commander Inc. has more than 65 corporate sponsors, according to its website.
As a result, Chinook USA has “two million bottles of iced tea sitting in warehouses,” the company’s lawyer told CNN Money.
Chinook USA, which expects to lose $5 million, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Now, hopefully, we have the attention of the Robertsons,” Chinook’s lawyer, J. Bruce Miller, told the WSJ’s Katy Stech. “They have a billion-dollar business, and they need to get it under control.”
CNN reported that Duck Commander was not available for comment on the lawsuit.