Diageo Responds to Diddy Lawsuit by Cutting Ties with the Mogul

Earlier this month, it was reported that Diddy filed a lawsuit against the company distributing his DeLeon tequila and Ciroc vodka brands, accusing the conglomerate of racism. Now, Diageo has left the entertainment mogul on his own as it has cut ties with the hip-hop entrepreneur.

According to Variety, the spirits company has responded to Diddy’s lawsuit and asked the court to dismiss it and informed them that it would no longer be working with Sean “Diddy” Combs.

“We are saddened that Mr. Combs has chosen to recast a business dispute as anything other than that and chosen to damage a productive and valued partnership. Mr. Combs’ bad-faith actions have clearly breached his contracts and left us no choice but to move to dismiss his baseless complaint and end our business relationship. Mr. Combs has repeatedly undermined our partnerships and threatened to publicly defame Diageo if we did not meet his unreasonable financial demands,” Diageo said in a written statement.

“Diageo believes strongly in the CIRÔC and DeLeón brands and remains committed to their success, which is why we tried for years to salvage the broken relationship with Mr. Combs. We funded the purchase of DeLeón for the joint venture and proceeded to invest more than $100 million to grow the brand. Despite having made nearly a billion dollars over the course of our 15-year relationship, Mr. Combs contributed a total of $1,000 and refused to honor his commitments.”

The initial lawsuit, which was filed in New York State court, had accused Diageo of being dishonest about its diversity efforts. Combs has stated that the company “kneecapped” the products he backed, typecasting them as “Black brands” that should only be marketed to “urban” (code: black) consumers.

Combs also alleged that the company has been neglectful toward his brand. DeLeon has repeatedly been out of stock at retailers nationwide, including larger markets like California and New York.

An attorney for Diddy, John C. Hueston released a statement pertaining to the latest action by Diageo.

“Diageo attempting to end its deals with Mr. Combs is like firing a whistleblower who calls out racism. It’s a cynical and transparent attempt to distract from multiple allegations of discrimination. Over the years, he has repeatedly raised concerns as senior executives uttered racially insensitive comments and made biased decisions based on that point of view. Diageo even acknowledged the problem by agreeing in his contract to treat DeLeon the same way it treated their other tequila brands. He brought the lawsuit to force them to live up to that contract, and instead they respond by trying to get rid of him. This lawsuit and Mr. Combs are not going away.”