Ownership of CIROC: Ed Lover Alleges Major Company Aims to ‘Wipe’ Diddy Out, Reveals Lawsuit Connection to His Arrest

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ legal troubles escalated this year following his arrest on September 16, 2024. Actor and musician Ed Lover shared his insights in an interview with The Art of Dialogue on Saturday, September 28.

Lover revealed that Diddy’s arrest was allegedly related to a lawsuit he initiated against liquor distributor Diageo in May 2023. Diddy claimed in the legal documents that Diageo overlooked prominent brands, including Ciroc and DeLeon, giving lesser emphasis to their marketing efforts compared to other brands, even though both are owned by Diageo.

When asked if Diddy’s legal woes were connected to his recent arrest, Lover responded affirmatively:

“I do feel like Diageo purposely started f*cking with him. Absolutely, that’s a huge company. I think once he started coming out trying to sue Diageo for racial discrimination, they were like, ‘Oh, okay, is this what you want to do? All right.’”

Lover characterized Diddy’s predicament, stating:

“Look at the whole thing. No more Ciroc, no more DeLeon, no more Sean John, like they just kind of like, you know what I mean, like trying to wipe dude clean like that.”

A similar view was expressed by rapper 50 Cent earlier in the month during his appearance on the podcast Earn Your Leisure. He reflected on his own experiences with Beam Suntory, drawing parallels to Diddy’s situation. He stated:

“It’s great for us to work for them. It’s not so cool when you start to own things. I made a lot of money with them, too. They did a deal that mirrored what Puffy’s deal with Diageo was for Ciroc. So, he didn’t have ownership of that at any point, but he was getting a lot of money.”

In addition, psychologist Dr. Ums Johnson indicated that Sean’s legal conflict with Diageo may have played a role in his arrest. During his interview with The Art of Dialogue on September 26, 2024, Johnson noted:

“Puffy accused Diageo of racial discrimination in advertising and marketing. Diageo got upset with Puff. British-based company, they said, ‘You already made billion dollars off of us. How dare you sue us and try to make a few more billions?’”

Diddy’s Legal Disputes with Diageo Concluded Earlier This Year

As previously discussed, Diddy approached the New York Supreme Court in May 2023, asserting that Diageo had been neglecting the brands under their joint venture. However, Diageo later sought to have the case dismissed and chose not to continue its partnership with Diddy.

According to Variety, Diageo released a statement in June of the same year, declaring that Diddy’s actions constituted a breach of contract, leading them to terminate their relationship. The statement elaborated:

“We funded the purchase of DeLeon for the joint venture and invested over $100 million to grow the brand. Despite nearly a billion dollars earned over our 15-year relationship, Mr. Combs contributed a total of $1,000 and refused to honor his commitments.”

Diageo initially entered into a partnership with Diddy’s Wines and Spirits in 2007 to market Ciroc. The company countered the lawsuit claims, stating that Diddy was trying to extort more money and that the lawsuit was an “attempt to pressure Diageo into an early settlement of a planned parallel arbitration proceeding.”

The lawsuit was resolved in January 2024 after Sean opted to withdraw his claims. This was confirmed by both parties in a joint statement on Diageo’s website, which stated:

“Sean Combs and Diageo have now agreed to resolve all disputes between them. Mr. Combs has withdrawn all of his allegations against Diageo and will voluntarily dismiss his lawsuits against Diageo with prejudice.”

The joint statement further indicated that Diddy and Diageo would no longer have a relationship, confirming that Diageo would continue to own Ciroc and DeLeon.

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