The ugly court battle between Sean “Diddy” Combs and Diageo has finally been resolved, with Diageo taking full ownership of the DeLeón tequila brand.

Combs sued Diageo in May 2023 in New York Supreme Court, alleging the company didn’t make promised investments in Ciroc and DeLeón and classified them as “Black brands” that should only be marketed to “urban” consumers.

The brand retails in Australia at more than $200 a bottle.

Combs signed a deal to promote Ciroc in 2007 and purchased DeLeón with Diageo in 2013. The rapper said that Diageo’s neglect of DeLeon escalated after DeLeón bought two competing tequila brands: Don Julio in 2014 and Casamigos in 2017.

He also alleged that Diageo had not given Ciroc and DeLeón the same kind of marketing and promotion it had given other properties in its portfolio. 

In a filing made in June 2023 in New York Supreme Court Diageo called for the suit to be dismissed and said it would no longer be working with Combs, countering that he had failed to meet obligations to which he had previously agreed.

“We are saddened that Mr. Combs has chosen to recast a business dispute as anything other than that and chosen to damage a productive and valued partnership,” Diageo said after filing suit last year. “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. Mr. Combs has repeatedly undermined our partnerships and threatened to publicly defame Diageo if we did not meet his unreasonable financial demands,” Diageo said in a statement. “Diageo believes strongly in the CIRÔC and DeLeón brands and remains committed to their success, which is why we tried for years to salvage the broken relationship with Mr. Combs. We funded the purchase of DeLeón 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.”

Following the dispute settlement, Diageo and Sean “Diddy” Coombs issued a brief joint statement yesterday.

It said: “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 Combs has withdrawn all of his allegations about Diageo and will voluntarily dismiss his lawsuits against Diageo with prejudice.  Diageo and Mr. Combs have no ongoing business relationship, either with respect to Cîroc vodka or DeLeón tequila, which Diageo now solely owns.”