*Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has filed a new lawsuit against spirits maker Diageo for “unlawful retaliation.”
We reported previously via CNN that Diageo cut ties with Diddy over the summer, ending a lucrative 15-year partnership that culminated in a racial discrimination lawsuit. Combs accused Diageo of racial discrimination in May, which led to the end of their business relationship.
The Bad Boy Records founder took legal action against Diageo, charging that the company “had neglected and underpromoted his DeLeón tequila, dismissing it as an “urban” product in its marketing,” CNN writes.
As Complex reports, Diddy filed a new lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court on Friday, accusing Diageo of “unlawful retaliation by a powerful international corporation.”
His latest allegations accuse Diago of doing “all it can to retaliate” and blackball him in the spirits industry.
“Diageo has instructed distributors and retailers of DeLeón not to talk to Mr. Combs about his own brand. Diageo, with its massive power in the industry, is doing everything it can to send a message, not only to Mr. Combs but to others like him: Speak up and you will be punished,” read the lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast.
“Diageo representatives began canceling meetings and failing to timely respond to communications written by Combs Wines’ representatives, which was out of the norm,” said Robert T. Chin, Head of Spirits at Combs Wines and Spirits, in his affidavit, “And, for the first time, Diageo took the position that Mr. Combs was not allowed to attend meetings with Diageo about DeLeón.”
Chin noted in the affidavit that after Diddy filed his initial lawsuit against Diageo in May, he was forced out of the marketing process for DeLeón, Complex reports.
Combs’ initial lawsuit accuses Diageo of failing to properly handle marketing and investments for DeLeon, which he attributes to racism.
“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,” Diageo reps said in a statement, per Complex. “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.”
In a statement to Complex, Diddy’s attorney John C. Hueston replied: “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.”
He continued, “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.”
READ MORE: Diageo Ends its 15-year Partnership with Diddy Following Lawsuit | Video
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