Who owns CIROC? Ed Lover claims a big company is 'trying to wipe' Diddy clean, explains why their lawsuit led to his arrest

Diddy's legal troubles worsened this year following his arrest on September 16, 2024. Actor and musician Ed Lover shared his reaction in an interview with The Art of Dialogue on Saturday, September 28.

Notably, Lover said in the conversation that his arrest was allegedly linked to a lawsuit Diddy filed against liquor distributor Diageo in May last year. Sean 'Diddy' Combs had claimed in the legal documents that the company ignored brands like Ciroc and DeLeon, giving less emphasis to their promotion than others. Notably, both liqueur brands are owned by Diageo.

Lover was asked in the interview whether the legal problem had anything to do with Diddy's arrest. He replied in the affirmative:

"I do feel like Diageo purposely started f*cking with him. Absolutely that's a huge. Diageo is a huge f*cking company and I think once he started coming out trying to sue Diageo for racial discrimination, I think they was like "oh, okay, is this what you want to do? All right.""

Lover described Diddy's situation by saying:

"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 claim was made by 50 Cent earlier this month when he appeared on the podcast, Earn Your Leisure. The rapper recalled his experience collaborating with the brand Beam Suntory and referred the same to Diddy's situation by saying that things take a worse turn when artists try to become the owners of different brands. He addressed the same by saying:

"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."

Furthermore, psychologist Dr. Umar Johnson also claimed that Sean's legal problem with Diageo had contributed to his arrest. While speaking to the Art of Dialogue on September 26, 2024, Johnson said:

"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 sure us and try to make a few more billions?'"

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Diageo and Diddy's legal problems were resolved earlier this year

As mentioned, Diddy approached the New York Supreme Court in May 2023, alleging that Diageo was neglecting the spirits under their joint control. However, Diageo later requested in a filing that the case must be dismissed and decided to not collaborate with Sean in the future.

According to Variety, Diageo shared a statement in June of the same year, saying that Sean's actions led to a breach of contracts, which forced them to end their relationship. The company mentioned that they are committed to the success of Ciroc and DeLeon and continued:

"We funded the purchase of DeLeon for the joint venture and proceeded to invest more than $100 million to grow the brand. 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."

Diageo collaborated with Diddy's Wines and Spirits in 2007 to promote Ciroc. The company responded to the lawsuit allegations in a filing, claiming that Sean was attempting to get more money out of them and the case 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 decided to withdraw the same. The news was confirmed by both sides in a statement posted on Diageo's website, that read:

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

The statement also revealed that Diddy and Diageo don't share a relationship anymore, adding that the latter would continue to remain the owner of Ciroc and DeLeon.