NEW YORK – The Situation doesn’t usually require a lot of motivation to lose the shirt. But Abercrombie & Fitch wants him to go one further – the company has offered to pay “Jersey Shore” cast members to stop wearing clothes carrying their brand.

The preppy teen retailer said Tuesday it would pay a “substantial payment” to Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino or any cast member who stops wearing its clothing on the popular MTV reality show because the series is “contrary to the aspirational nature of the brand.”

Additional Photos

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and other cast members of “Jersey Shore” have been made an offer to not wear Abercrombie & Fitch. The Associated Press

Gerard Depardieu, shown in a wine commercial. The Associated Press

“We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image,” the retailer said in a press release.

It may seem strange that a brand that employs half-naked models to stand outside its flagship stores and courted controversy with racy catalogs has come out with such an aggressive campaign against the hard partying cast of “Jersey Shore.” But the audacious approach is getting the teen retailer tons of publicity during the crucial back-to-school season, the second biggest shopping period of the year. The CEO says it’s having fun with the ploy, and marketing experts say the company may wind up laughing all the way to the bank.

“It gets their name further out into the marketplace …at the peak of the back-to-school season,” said Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi. “It’s free marketing. Because the approach is so ridiculous, everybody’s talking about it.”

Brands usually embrace celebrities or performers who adopt their products in an unsolicited, organic way because of all the attention it can drum up. The cast of “Jersey Shore” don’t exactly consist of the kind of role models most brands covet. Now filming its fifth season, the show has won millions of viewers who tune in to watch a group of hard-partying, foul-mouthed 20- and 30-somethings hanging out, hooking up and behaving raucously.

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is one of the most popular, and outrageous, cast members, boasting of a “gym-tan-laundry” routine and lifting his shirt to show off his abs at every opportunity.

Sorrentino did not return requests for comment and there was whether anyone in the cast accepted the offer.

Depardieu, on plane, had to go  

PARIS – An airline passenger says her Paris-to-Dublin flight was delayed nearly two hours after celebrated French actor Gerard Depardieu urinated on the plane ahead of takeoff.

France’s Europe-1 radio aired an interview with the passenger, identified only by her first name Daniele, saying that Depardieu appeared inebriated and announced he had to urinate. The passenger said when the cabin crew told him to remain seated during takeoff, “he stood up and did it (urinated) on the ground.”

A spokeswoman for City Jet, the Dublin-headquartered airline that operated the Tuesday evening flight, confirmed that such an incident had taken place. But spokeswoman Karen Gillo said Wednesday privacy issues prevented her from naming the passenger, who was escorted off the plane. Calls for comment from Depardieu’s agent went unanswered Wednesday.

Lopez will be back as judge 

NEW YORK – If there was ever any doubt, it’s gone now. Jennifer Lopez will be back at the judge’s panel for the 11th season of “American Idol.”

The Fox network has made Lopez’s return official, along with her fellow judges, Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler and record producer Randy Jackson. In addition, Fox said Wednesday that Ryan Seacrest will be back as host.

Singer-actress Lopez debuted as a judge this past season. But in recent weeks, she had publicly been coy about whether she would stay with the hit musical competition.

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