• March 24, 2011

2K Sports is finding itself in the center of a controversy over an ad that apparently was never intended for public consumption.

According to the New York Daily News, an ad for the company's forthcoming "Top Spin 4" game depicting tennis star Serena Williams, was rejected by the company for being "too sexy." The ad shows a leotard-dressed Williams (cited as "the world's sexiest tennis star") facing off against a similarly clad actress billed as "the world's sexiest tennis gamer" to a pulsing soundtrack and grunts and groans that could be heard on a tennis court (or in a bedroom).

According to the Daily News, 2K Sports rejected the ad, but the actress in the video uploaded it to YouTube and tweeted a link to it on Monday. Williams also tweeted a reference to a forthcoming "sexy video" on Wednesday, but never followed through on the promise, according to the paper.

In a statement to the paper, 2K Sports said the video was "not part of the title's marketing campaign and its distribution was unauthorized."