Nutrisystem cuts ties with Lawrence Taylor

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Nutrisystem, the weight loss company, has cut its ties with Lawrence Taylor, the former New York Giants linebacker charged with rape, the company said Friday.

The 51-year-old Hall of Fame member was charged Thursday with rape and patronizing a prostitute in a case involving a 16-year-old girl, police in Ramapo, New York, said. Taylor had been one of Nutrisystem's spokesmen.

"Since 1972, Nutrisystem (NTRI) has been a respected leader in health and wellness and we are deeply protective of the reputation of our brand," the company said in a statement.

"We are shocked and saddened by these very serious allegations against Lawrence Taylor. Based on the severity of these allegations, Nutrisystem has made the decision to sever our relationship with Mr. Taylor effective immediately."

Taylor's attorney said Taylor denied the charges and will fight them.

"My client did not have sex with anybody. Period," said the lawyer, Arthur Aidala, adding: "Lawrence Taylor did not rape anybody."

Taylor appeared at an afternoon court hearing where a judge set bail at $75,000. Taylor was not asked to enter a plea and later left the courthouse after posting bail.

He was arrested in a Holiday Inn room a few hours after the alleged rape took place, according to Christopher St. Lawrence, the town supervisor and police commissioner in Ramapo, about 30 miles northwest of New York City.

Taylor was a 10-time all-pro linebacker for the New York Giants from 1981 to 1993 after earning All American honors at the University of North Carolina.

A punishing tackler and pass rusher known by his initials "L.T.," he was on two Super Bowl champion teams and was inducted into the National Football League's Hall of Fame, which noted that he "redefined the way the outside linebacker position was played."

He was twice suspended by the NFL for substance abuse and battled a cocaine addiction long after retirement, resulting in several arrests and a downward spiral that he chronicled in a 2003 autobiography.

After kicking drugs, he worked as a sports commentator and appeared as a contestant on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" in 2009. Taylor and his dance partner on the program, Edyta Sliwinska, were eliminated in the seventh week of competition.

Nutrisystem's stock price rose 23 cents to $22.81 a share on Friday.