Diageo Severs Ties With Longtime Partner Sean Combs
June 28, 2023In case you missed yesterday’s news alert, Diageo has fired back against longtime partner Sean “Diddy” Combs and his Combs Wine & Spirits company after the latter filed a complaint against the drinks giant in New York state court earlier this month. Diageo is requesting that the court either compel Combs Wine & Spirits to submit to binding arbitration or dismiss the complaint in its entirety, with prejudice.
In early June, Combs Wine & Spirits filed a lawsuit alleging that Diageo neglected to properly promote DeLeón Tequila and Cîroc vodka, two brands on which it has been partnered with Combs. The lawsuit alleges that Diageo pigeonholed the Combs brands, exclusively marketing them to black and “urban” consumers at the expense of the wider spirits market. Diageo responds that those claims are baseless, and that, “In an effort to extract additional billions from Diageo, Combs has resorted to false and reckless allegations, including numerous defamatory and disparaging accusations.”
“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,” said a Diageo spokesperson. “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.” Here’s the full story.—Daniel Marsteller
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