Diddy No Longer Owns DeLeón Tequila After Reaching A Settlement With Diageo

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Diddy’s business empire continues to crumble in the wake of a slew of sexual assault lawsuits against him at the end of the year. Rolling Stone reports that, after settling his lawsuit against beverage licensing company Diageo, the music mogul will no longer have any ties to the Ciroc vodka or DeLeón tequila brands, relinquishing his 50-percent stake in each.

Diddy sued his former partners in May of last year, claiming racisim at Diageo had stunted the growth of his brands, going so far as asking him to take a backseat in marketing to downplay their reputation as Black brands (Diageo owns 35 percent of Hennessey, by the way). In September, the lawsuit was moved to New York district court and was cleared to become public.

However, in November, Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit of her own against him, alleging that he’d beat her, raped her, and coerced her into sexual encounters with other men. Although he and Cassie settled within 24 hours, by then, the damage had been done, and the floodgates opened for three more accusers to come forward over the next month.

This gave DeLeón the leverage to attempt to block the mogul’s request for an injunction granting him a $15 million marketing budget for DeLeón. Today, both parties issued a joint statement revealing the terms of the settlement, although any financial details are being kept out of the press. “Sean Combs and Diageo have now agreed to resolve all disputes between them,” it reads. “Mr. Combs has withdrawn all of his allegations about Diageo and will voluntarily dismiss his lawsuits against Diageo with prejudice. Diageo and Mr. Combs have no ongoing business relationship, either with respect to Cîroc vodka or DeLeón tequila, which Diageo now solely owns.”

As the lawsuits have continued, Diddy stepped down from his role as Chairman of Revolt, while many brands associated with his Empower Global marketplace have removed themselves.

Diddy Says He Was “Always Fighting For Ciroc Not To Be Pigeonholed”

During a recent interview with Earn Your Leisure, Diddy discussed the success of Ciroc. He recalled telling Diageo that he wanted to turn Ciroc around, sharing that he didn’t want it to be “pigeonholed.” He also explained how that happened to him previously with Sean John, and he was hoping not to go through it again. Unfortunately, Diddy eventually wound up suing Diageo in May, for allegedly failing to properly market the vodka.

“I was called to have a meeting with Diageo,” Diddy began. “They knew that I was kind of killing things in the culture and they were trying to fix their diversity problem and through that, a meeting was set up.” He went on, “I told them, you know, ‘I want to be an owner and that I have these ideas from promoting parties at Howard’ – just remembering that I would always get the door and never get the bar. So I said: ‘I have aspirations to have Black-owned brands owned by Black people behind the bar and a part of your organization.’

Read More: Bad Boy Artist Mark Curry Isn’t Impressed By Diddy Signing Over Publishing Rights

Diddy Describes Turning Ciroc Around

“I’m looking at their portfolio and they said we could start something from scratch,” Diddy then explained. “But I’m looking at their portfolio and I remember one night I was having a great, great time with Ciroc. I had some Ciroc, it was made by grapes and I remember the light bulb went off in my head. I said: ‘I don’t want to wait and develop nothing. Let me show you what I could do with Ciroc. Let me show you how I could turn your revenue around.’”

“They were losing $40 million a year,” Diddy also revealed. “I went and turned it around and took it to 2.6 million cases from 40,000 cases. This is something that’s never been done! And so 15 years later, even though I had that success, I was always fighting for Ciroc not to be pigeonholed – not to be pigeonholed as a Black brand, not to be pigeonholed as an urban brand. I already went through that!” He then went on to share how he was pigeonholed with his brand Sean John. “So with Ciroc, it was the same thing getting into the spirits industry. No matter what industry I went into, I always came up against this ceiling that they just wanted to keep me in the color section.” Keep an eye on HNHH for more updates on Diddy.

Read More: Diddy’s Appearance At The 2023 MTV VMAs Will Include A Special Award And Performance

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Diddy Said DeLeon’s Watermelon-Flavored Tequila Wasn’t His Idea In A Lawsuit Against His Former Partners

In May, Sean “Diddy” Combs filed a lawsuit against Diageo PLC, his partner in the vodka brand Ciroc and tequila brand DeLeon, accusing Diageo of racial discrimination. In classifying the brands as “urban” brands, the lawsuit alleges “Ciroc and DeLeon have been starved of resources,” including “production, distribution, and sales.” Now, a new court ruling has unredacted several portions of the lawsuit, revealing that Combs also accused Diageo of developing a watermelon-flavored tequila against his wishes — even after being informed of the racist associations that could be attached to such a move.

In the original lawsuit, Combs said Diageo had not invested in Ciroc and DeLeon, and said that a president at the company, Stephen Rust, told him “race was part of the reason Diageo limited the neighborhoods where the Combs brands were distributed.” Diageo denied the allegations and ended its partnership with Combs in late June. But New York State Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen recently ruled that Diageo could not keep the entirety of the lawsuit secret.

According to Rolling Stone, which obtained the unredacted lawsuit, Combs was not only asked to downplay his connection with Ciroc, “with the goal of rolling back its ‘image of being an African-American brand,” Combs claims that the company specifically refused to take his advice regarding the potentially prickly nature of the perception of a Black-owned tequila company selling a watermelon-flavored tequila.

“Diageo showed up in person to Mr. Combs and his team with a developed watermelon-flavored DeLeon Tequila,” the lawsuit reads. “They did this despite DeLeon not having flavored tequila, Mr. Combs’ consistent objection to adding flavors, and the efforts to educate Diageo about the racial history and connotations relating to watermelon.” However, a Diageo spokesperson told Rolling Stone, “Mr. Combs supported, publicly endorsed for several years, and benefited financially from the success of Ciroc Summer Watermelon. His attempt to recast follow up discussions regarding innovations for DeLeon is, as is his entire suit, disingenuous and self-serving.”

Diddy’s not the only rap mogul to have trouble with his alcohol brands; 50 Cent recently settled in Rémy Martin’s suit against him, while Jay-Z sold a significant stake in his D’usse brand after a heated lawsuit with Bacardi.

CÎROC Taps ‘NTWRK’ & Designer Ev Bravado for Limited-Edition Jacket Drop on Sept. 29

CÎROC Taps ‘NTWRK’ & Designer Ev Bravado for Limited-Edition Jacket Drop on Sept. 29

CÎROC teams up with shopping platform NTWRK and Ev Bravado for a limited release of two custom-made jackets, combining streetwear fashion, sports and spirits. While winning culture is prevalent in all three industries, the parties involve understand that wins taste better with a can of CÎROC Vodka Spirits, which is an official Vodka sponsor of the NFL, CÎROC. Tailgaters will agree with that as well.

The two custom-made jackets are inspired by Dallas and New York City, paralleled with the Giants and Cowboys Monday Night Football game. On Monday, tailgaters had a chance to previous to custom-made creation of Ev Bravado. The design derives from the iconography of both New York and Texas, where sports fans pay tribute to their respective teams.

The Cowboys proved to be superior in the first of two meetings this season, winning 23-16. Nevertheless, CÎROC and NTWRK has called on Ev Bravado and model/influencer J Mulan to enhance the Dallas and NYC connection.

Enter for a chance to win one of the two jackets via NTWRK. The drawing is currently live. Winners will be announced on Thursday, September 29 at 2pm PST / 5pm EST. 

The post CÎROC Taps ‘NTWRK’ & Designer Ev Bravado for Limited-Edition Jacket Drop on Sept. 29 appeared first on The Source.

Diddy Announces CÎROC is Headed to Ready-to-Drink Market

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With the launch of CÎROC Vodka Spritz, a suite of ultra-premium tailored cocktails available in four natural flavors, Sean “Diddy” Combs and CÎROC Ultra-Premium Vodka join the ready-to-drink market.

“When it came to our next innovation, we wanted to disrupt the market,” Diddy said to Forbes. “We’re coming into the RTD space with a luxury offering. We’re bringing some energy to space and showing the power of Cîroc.”

CÎROC Vodka Spritz attractive design hints to the perfectly made cocktail inside with its sleek, clean lines. The four kinds are gluten-free and include no artificial sweeteners and are prepared with vodka made from premium French grapes and bursting with natural flavors. Available nationwide beginning April 1 for a suggested retail price of $16.99 for a four-pack, available in four flavors: Watermelon Kiwi, Sunset Cirtus, Pineapple Passion, and Colada.

CIROC Vodka Spritz ALL VARIANTS 02
CIROC Vodka Spritz All Variants

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