British drinks giant Diageo says it's calling time on its "broken" relationship with rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs. The company, owner of brands including Johnnie Walker and Guinness, called the rapper an "unreliable and untrustworthy business partner" in its response to a lawsuit Diddy filed alleging racism, the BBC reports. Diageo said the rapper's claims were defamatory and an attempt "to extract additional billions" from the company. It said his "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..
In a lawsuit filed last month, Diddy accused Diageo of limiting distribution of his Cîroc vodka and DeLeón tequila brands to "urban" neighborhoods because he is Black, while spending far more resources on promoting other brands, the AP reports. In its response, Diageo said the rapper hadn't met his promise to help fund the tequila brand, which they jointly acquired in 2013. "Despite having made nearly a billion dollars over the course of our 15-year relationship, Mr Combs contributed a total of $1,000 and refused to honor his commitments," the company said.
Combs' lawyer, John Hueston, fired back with a statement saying "Diageo attempting to end its deals with Mr. Combs is like firing a whistleblower who calls out racism," per the Hollywood Reporter. "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," Hueston said. Diageo is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed, but "this lawsuit and Mr. Combs are not going away," the lawyer said. (More Diddy stories.)
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