Rapper, producer and entrepreneur Sean 鈥淒iddy鈥 Combs is asking the New York Supreme Court to enforce a 2021 agreement that requires spirits seller Diageo to treat his DeLeon tequila brand 鈥渁t least as favorably鈥 as its other tequila brands.
Combs signed the agreement with Diageo - which owns more than 200 brands including Guinness beer and Tanqueray gin - after what he says were years of neglect for DeLeon, a brand he established with the London company in 2013.
Combs鈥 lawsuit against Diageo . But many details, including the 2021 agreement, were redacted at the time. On Wednesday, those details were released after Judge Joel Cohen ruled that Diageo could keep only limited portions confidential.
Combs says Diageo's treatment of DeLeon worsened after it bought two competing tequila brands: Don Julio in 2014 and Casamigos in 2017. Combs, who is Black, says Diageo positioned his tequila as an inferior 鈥渦rban鈥 brand and limited its distribution.
Diageo has . In late June, it asked the court to compel arbitration or dismiss the suit. It is also in the process of terminating a partnership between Combs and Ciroc vodka, a brand he had promoted since 2007.
The newly public documents detail what Combs says was Diageo's repeated disinvestment in DeLeon. As of last year, DeLeon was distributed in 3% of possible outlets, for example, while Don Julio was in 36%. DeLeon has been listed as 鈥渙ut of stock鈥 in major markets at least ten times in the past year, the lawsuit says.
In 2021, Combs said he was informed that all of Diageo鈥檚 agave plants were allocated to other brands, forcing DeLeon to scramble to find suppliers in the more expensive spot market. Combs says Diageo also made unilateral decisions that harmed the brand, including discontinuing popular 375-millileter 鈥渉alf bottles" and launching a redesigned bottle with no marketing support.
Combs claims Diageo鈥檚 decisions were often tinged with racism. He said he was adamant that DeLeon not offer flavored versions until customers had more time to learn about the brand. But Diageo went ahead and developed a watermelon flavor, even though Combs had previously warned the company to be careful about the racist history of watermelon in a brand aimed at Black consumers.
In response, Diageo pointed out that Combs supported and endorsed Ciroc Summer Watermelon for several years.
鈥淗is attempt to recast follow-up discussions regarding innovations for DeLeon is, as is his entire suit, disingenuous and self-serving,鈥 Diageo said Wednesday in a statement.
In his lawsuit, Combs said he only signed on to promote Ciroc Summer Watermelon after educating the company about watermelon and getting assurances from Diageo that it would be sensitive to any negative connotations. Combs also differentiated Ciroc 鈥 which has more than a dozen flavors 鈥 from DeLeon, which would have introduced watermelon as its first flavor.
Combs says internal Diageo documents also proposed downplaying Ciroc's connection to him with the goal of rolling back its 鈥渋mage of being an African-American brand."
In its own court filings, Diageo accuses Combs of resorting to 鈥渇alse and reckless鈥 allegations in an effort to extract monetary damages. Diageo also says it has increased production of DeLeon and sales have doubled since the 2021 agreement.
