Diddy Dropped by Liquor Company Over Lawsuit

Last month Sean 'Diddy' Combs filed a lawsuit against his business partners accusing them of failing to properly promote his liquor brands Ciroc vodka and DeLeón tequila [click here if you missed that]. 

Now the liquor company has cut ties with Diddy...

From Variety

Liquor giant Diageo PLC said it was severing ties with entrepreneur Sean Combs after the celebrity filed a suit alleging Diageo had not supported joint ventures involving Ciroc vodka and DeLeón tequila.

Combs sued Diageo in late May in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleging that the company, which also distributes Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan, among other liquor brands, had neglected the spirits under their joint control. He also alleged Diageo had undermined the business by marketing Ciroc and DeLeón as “urban,” rather than something for the general market.

In a filing made Tuesday in the same jurisdiction, Diageo called for the suit to be dismissed and said it would no longer be working with Combs, who over the years has launched a clothing line and restaurants and has a stake in the Revolt TV cable network.

“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 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 company added: “We have exhausted every reasonable remedy and see no other path forward.”