A Super Bowl advertisement featuring rock star Bruce Springsteen has been taken off of YouTube after reports emerged that he was arrested for driving under the influence last year.
Springsteen was arrested at Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey on Nov. 14 and was cited on accusations of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, and consuming alcohol in a closed area, TMZ reported on Wednesday.
The news comes just days after Springsteen’s first Super Bowl ad was unveiled. The ad features the New Jersey native urging people to find a middle ground in an apparent nod to the partisanship and divisiveness of the past year.
“The middle has been a hard place to get to lately, between red and blue, between servant and citizen, between our freedom and our fear,” Springsteen says in the ad. “Freedom … belongs to us all. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, it’s what connects us, and we need that connection. We need the middle.”
A Jeep spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the company was looking into reports about Springsteen’s arrest.
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate,” the spokesperson said. “But it’s also right that we pause our Big Game commercial until the actual facts can be established.”
“Its message of community and unity is as relevant as ever. As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned,” the spokesperson added.
