Diageo North America will cut ties with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs after he accused the spirits brand of racism in neglecting his liquor brands.
As we previously reported, Diddy alleged that Diageo has given more support to their other two tequila brands and considers DeLeon a “black brand.” The May lawsuit, filed in the New York State Supreme Court by Combs, said that Diageo proclaims itself as a leader in diversity and inclusion, but that the company “has proven unwilling to treat its Black partners equally—even when explicitly required by contract to do so.”
Now the liquor giant is ready to tell their side of the story. Diageo responded to Combs’s lawsuit in a court filing on Tuesday (June 27). Diageo asked the judge in the case to force Combs’s claims into arbitration or dismiss the case according to Bloomberg.
“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,” Diageo said in a statement, per The Seattle Times. “We have exhausted every reasonable remedy and see no other path forward.”
Diddy’s party stated they believe the actions were “like firing a whistleblower who calls out racism.”
“It’s a cynical and transparent attempt to distract from multiple allegations of discrimination. 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,” Combs’ attorneys explained, per the outlet.