Sean "Diddy" Combs accepts the lifetime achievement award at the...

Sean "Diddy" Combs accepts the lifetime achievement award at the 2022 BET Awards in Los Angeles. The hip-hop star and entrepreneur has withdrawn his lawsuit against the London-based spirits giant as part of a settlement with the company. Credit: Invision / AP / Chris Pizzello

Rapper and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs has withdrawn his lawsuit against Diageo as part of a settlement with the London-based spirits giant.

Combs and Diageo “have now agreed to resolve all disputes between them,” the two parties said in a statement released Tuesday. Diageo is now the sole owner of Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila, two brands Combs had promoted in the past, and has no business relationship with Combs going forward.

No further details of the settlement were released.

Combs sued Diageo last May, saying the company didn’t make promised investments in Ciroc and DeLeon and treated them as inferior “urban” products.

Combs, who signed a deal to promote Ciroc in 2007 and purchased DeLeon with Diageo in 2013, said the neglect worsened after Diageo bought two competing tequila brands: Don Julio in 2014 and Casamigos in 2017. Diageo owns more than 200 brands, including Guinness beer and Tanqueray gin.

Combs, who is Black, also accused Diageo of racism. In court filings, the 54-year-old hip-hop star said Diageo leadership told him race was one of the reasons it limited distribution to “urban” neighborhoods. Combs was also told some Diageo leaders resented him for making too much money.

Diageo denied those claims. In legal filings, Diageo accused Combs of resorting to “false and reckless” allegations “in an effort to extract additional billions” from the company.

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