Sweetgreen is standing by its brand ambassador Naomi Osaka as she makes headlines around the globe for dropping out of the French Open to prioritize her mental health.
Osaka’s departure from the tournament came less than a month after Sweetgreen announced the 23-year-old tennis champion would become the chain’s youngest investor and its first national athlete ambassador.
“Our partnership with Naomi Osaka is rooted in wellness in all its forms,” Sweetgreen tweeted earlier this week, the same day Osaka left the Open. “We support her in furthering the conversation around mental health and are proud to have her part of the Sweetgreen team.”
Early last month, Sweetgreen announced Osaka’s new relationship with the brand, noting that she worked with the restaurant’s culinary team to create a custom bowl for Sweetgreen’s app. The tennis player’s photo is on the homepage of Sweetgreen’s website, next to her custom salad.
On Monday, the four-time Grand Slam champion and second-ranked woman in tennis posted on Instagram that “the best thing” would be for her to drop out of the French open, saying she has “suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018.”
Before leaving the tournament, Osaka had announced she would not be participating in the post-game press conferences that are expected of professional athletes because they heighten her depression and anxiety. Her decision led the tournament to fine her $15,000 and threaten harsher penalties.
“I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media,” she wrote on Instagram. “So here in Paris I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious, so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences.”
In announcing the partnership with Osaka, Sweetgreen said it aimed to forever alter such athlete-restaurant relationships.
“We let our values guide our actions and surround ourselves with people who do the same,” reads Sweetgreen’s website page introducing Osaka. “One person who embodies this ideal is Naomi Osaka.”
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