Fogle’s attorney says no charges have been filed.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: After a decade and a half playing the part of Subways pitchman, Jared Fogle has made himself synonymous with the company’s branding.
Hi status as one of America’s most beloved mascots will surely be put in jeopardy after federal investigators raided Fogle’s home in Zionsville, Indiana, on Tuesday in a measure that could be connected to a probe that led to the former executive director of the Jared Foundation, Russell Taylor, being arrested on federal child pornography charges, reported CBS News.
However, authorities have not officially said anything linking the search at Fogle’s home to that case or any other investigation, according to CNN, and Fogle’s attorney, Ron Elberger, released a statement saying his client has not been arrested or charged with any crime.
However, none of that was enough to stop Subway from abruptly cutting ties with its longtime spokesperson.
“Subway and Jared Fogle have mutually agreed to suspend their relationship due to the current investigation,” a Subway spokesman said in a statement. “Jared continues to cooperate with authorities, and he expects no actions to be forthcoming. Both Jared and Subway agree that this was the appropriate step to take.”
During an April search at Taylor’s home, authorities found “a cache of sexually explicit photos and videos Taylor allegedly produced by secretly filming minor children” there, federal prosecutors said in a May statement.
“It’s the right move,” said David La Torre, a principal at La Torre Communications, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, public relations firm hired in 2012 by Penn State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal. “They are suspending him, not firing him. Subway has bought itself some time. I’m sure they are probably very sensitive to the whole issue of child porn. Any more viable evidence might make it unfixable,” he told CBS News.