The case of Sean “Diddy” Combs versus spirits conglomerate Diageo has been full of back-and-forth accusations. In the latest round, Diageo claims Combs allegedly tried to coerce millions out of the company by threatening to call the company racist.
According to Rolling Stone, in response to Combs’ lawsuit alleging mistreatment and discrimination toward his vodka and tequila brands, Diageo has presented a detailed counterargument, asserting that it consistently offered support to Combs’ brands, Ciroc and DeLeón. Furthermore, Diageo contends that Combs demanded millions of dollars more, threatening to accuse the company of racism if that didn’t happen.
“For example, in May 2021, following Diageo’s public commitment of $100 million to help with COVID recovery for the hospitality sector and underprivileged communities, Mr. Combs demanded that Diageo pay him $100 million and threatened then to ‘reach out to every news outlet’ to ‘burn the house down’ and cause maximum damage to Diageo and the DeLeón brand, by making public accusations racism if Diageo refused to write the check,” the liquor company’s response read.
Combs’ lawyers deny the accusations and insist the conglomerate failed to support his DeLéon Tequila brand, which harmed its sales.
Furthermore, Combs claimed that the company did this because it viewed DeLéon as a Black brand, and because of this, it lent the company less support than other brands.
Billboard reported on Sept. 8 that Combs won an early battle against Diageo, forcing the company out of arbitration into a public legal battle. The company claimed Combs was an “unreliable and untrustworthy business partner” who “repeatedly undermined our partnerships and threatened to publicly defame Diageo if we did not meet his unreasonable financial demands.”
As CNBC reported, in 2007, Combs Wines and Spirits began an equal partnership with Diageo in order to market and promote Combs’ vodka brand, Ciroc. After this initial success, Diageo agreed to purchase Combs’ DeLéon tequila brand in 2013. Combs alleges that a Diageo executive, Stephen Rust, informed him in 2019 that if his company had been owned by Martha Stewart, it would have received more of a push.
Diageo responded via a statement, “We are disappointed our efforts to resolve this business dispute amicably have been ignored, and that Mr. Combs has chosen to damage a productive and valued partnership. While we respect Mr. Combs as an artist and entrepreneur, his allegations lack merit, and we are confident the facts will show that he has been treated fairly.”
In comparison to more popular tequila brands in Diageo’s portfolio, Combs’ brand DeLéon only received distribution of 3.3% in retail liquor stores compared to 36% for Don Julio, Combs claims. Casamigos, the most popular tequila brand in America, received enough distribution to account for just under 13% of all tequila sales across the country.
Combs’ lawyer briefly described what led his client to pursue litigation against Diageo in a statement released on Sept. 29.
“Diageo claims its executives were available to hear all of Mr. Combs’ concerns about race and diversity issues,” John Hueston said. “The sad truth is that they never truly listened to what Mr. Combs was saying and brushed them off as threats and demands for money. If they had actually taken the time to comprehend his concerns, and lived up to the agreements they signed, we wouldn’t be in court today.”
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