Lion Red is to recast the three stars of its “blood brothers” commercials, following the appearance of one of the actors as a minor gay character on TV3 drama The Strip. Lion spokeswoman Rachel Robertson said the actor had breached an exclusivity contract forbidding other television work, and that Kip Chapman's character in the TV show had "contradicted" his image in the beer commercial, but she denied he was sacked because the character was gay. Chapman's agent Gail Cowan said that Chapman was being “victimised”, and that the brewery was well aware of other television roles that Chapman and his co-star Cohen Holloway had played recently, including the shows What Now and Target. Labour MP Tim Barnett said Lion Breweries was out of touch and pandering to outdated stereotypes, and that their attitude would lose them customers. "This matter is certainly not going to gain them any. It sounds like Lion is stuck in a rut . . . fortunately consumers aren't," he said.