Sean “Diddy” Combs accused his former business partner Diageo of “illegal retaliation” on Wednesday, heightening the legal battle between the mogul musician and the spirits conglomerate.
Diageo, which had distributed the rapper’s Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila brands, cut ties with Combs last month after he filed a suit accusing the corporate of racism within the promotion and distribution of his liquor labels.
“The message is evident — should you dare to make clear Diageo’s conduct, you shall be punished,” Combs’ lawyers said in documents filed in Recent York State Supreme Court on Wednesday and obtained by The Post.
Diageo, the world’s largest spirits company, has asked the court to toss the lawsuit.
Nevertheless, the filing called Diageo’s motion to dismiss the case “smoke and mirrors,” and asked the court to disregard the request.
The grievance stated Combs “just isn’t searching for money damages here for the breach of the DeLeón Agreement.” Combs’ original grievance, filed in late May, had sought billions in damages.
The 53-year-old entrepreneur’s counsel at Hueston Hennigan LLP didn’t immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
The 53-year-old entrepreneur claimed Diageo unlawfully retaliated against him by ending their partnership after Combs accused the spirits giant of racism.Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
“This can be a business dispute and mustn’t be recast as anything aside from that,” a spokesperson for Diageo told The Post, adding that the brand exerted “our contractual rights to terminate the marketing services agreement in place for Ciroc and start the wind down of the DeLeón three way partnership.”
The source continued: “Our actions are consistent with our desire to guard the numerous investment we have now made in each brands and their future growth. Mr. Combs’ longstanding bad faith actions, false accusations and breaches of contract overwhelmingly support Diageo’s justified decision to sever ties.”
The legal feud between the ex-business partners began in May, when Combs alleged the spirits giant “sabotaged” his DeLeón brand with shoddy packaging that “made the product look low-cost,” in response to the grievance.
The legal feud between Combs and Diageo began in May, when Combs claimed the corporate “sabotaged” his DeLeón brand with shoddy packaging that “made the product look low-cost.”Getty Images for DIAGEO and its brands Smirnoff Ice Neon Lemonade, Crown Royal,
The filing also mentioned Ciroc, a Diageo-owned brand that had a marketing services agreement with Combs that required him to assist promote the vodka and assist in marketing decisions.
Combs claimed that Diageo “didn’t support [DeLeón and Ciroc] as promised, repeatedly failing to supply sufficient support for production, distribution and sales,” in response to court documents.
Combs attributed the shortage of investment to Diageo’s racist classification system, which labeled Ciroc and DeLeón as “urban,” “African American” and “black” brands based on a “misguided belief that a black entrepreneur could only appeal to others who shared his skin color.”
Quite the opposite, Diego “invested greater than $1 billion to accumulate and grow” George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila brand, the grievance identified.
It also noted that the spirits giant marketed Casamigos “to consumers of all races, resulting in billions in sales” despite “only having white founders.”
Combs has also said Diageo didn’t support his partnership with Ciroc since it was labeled as an “urban,” “black” brand that “could only appeal to others who shared his skin color.”Getty Images for CIROC
Though the court documents didn’t indicate how much money Diageo poured into Ciroc and DeLeón, it claims that Combs was pivotal in helping “struggling Ciroc” go “from a meager 75,000 cases in annual sales to tens of millions in only just a few years.”
In Diageo’s motion to dismiss Combs’ grievance, nonetheless, the corporate states that it poured “over $100 million” into the DeLeón enterprise. Combs only made a “$1,000 initial capital contribution,” in response to the court documents shared with The Post.
Combs’ relationship with Diageo dates to 2007, when the London-based company — which owns greater than 200 brands, including Guinness beer and Tanqueray gin — approached Combs about Ciroc.
Combs has reportedly taken home nearly $1 billion throughout his tie-up with Diageo.
