As the public fallout continues with popular media house ZIP FM, telecommunications giant Digicel has suspended its relationship with the entity following a controversial baton presentation during an interview on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Digicel publicly revealed its withdrawal of advertising spending with ZIP which comes into immediate effect.

The regional telecommunications giant released a statement via its social media accounts that it had paused its advertising with the station for 30 days in response to the video.

On Wednesday, a video of Ramone Silveira being presented with a baton by the interviewer began to make the rounds online to an overwhelmingly negative reception by online users.

On Tuesday, Silveira was arrested for his threatening and intimidating behavior to force passengers to leave a taxi during an island strike by several taxi operators.

In a video of the incident which was filmed by a passenger, the 32-year-old whose given profession is a clown, is seen holding a large piece of board as part of his efforts to intimidate passengers’ extraction from the vehicle, as he forced that taxi operator to stop working.

Thus the presentation of the baton left many puzzled, bemused, and incensed at the act drawing widescale condemnation.  

Following severe backlash by the public shortly after the video’s circulation online, ZIP released of distancing itself from the action. They noted that the “Gift” was an unsanctioned act by the individual done independently of a station’s approval.

On Thursday Zip released a secondary statement apologizing for the presentation.