Amid Diddy's Legal Troubles, Even More Brands Have Cut Ties

In 2021, Combs launched Empower Global, a place for consumers to shop the best Black-owned brands around the world.

But on December 10, 2023, Rolling Stone reported that 18 partner brands cut ties with the e-commerce platform as a result of the allegations against Combs, including African jewelry brand Fulaba.

“Fulaba is all about empowering women and girls,” said Fulaba founder Haby Barry said in a statement at the time. “We will not associate with anything or anyone that is counter to our values.”

Black-owned eyewear and accessories brand House of Takura left Empower Global at the same time.

“We take the allegations against Mr. Combs very seriously and find such behavior abhorrent and intolerable,” founder Annette Njau told Rolling Stone. “We believe in victims’ rights and support victims in speaking their truth, even against the most powerful of people.”

Njau’s statement continued, sending a message of support to Cassie: “Our brand is heavily focused on the empowerment of girls and women in Africa. We know all too well the indelible trauma that women in abusive relationships experience and the uphill battle that women and girls face in breaking that cycle and finding healing. Our hearts go out to Casandra Fine and all other women recovering from this cycle.”

Diddy founded Capital Prep, a New York City charter school, in 2016 along with Dr. Steve Perry, to provide college preparatory educational opportunities to disadvantaged students. But in the wake of the sexual assault allegations against him, the school decided to end their relationship with Combs. The news was announced in an official statement from Dr. Perry.

“Following a comprehensive evaluation, a decision has been made to end the partnership between Capital Preparatory Schools and Sean Combs,” the statement read. “While this decision was not made lightly, we firmly believe it is in the best interest of our organization’s health and future.”

According to reporting from The Cut, the school faced several issues, including violence, a high turnover rate and a bedbug outbreak. The dysfunction left concerned parents furious.

“He [Diddy] was supposed to be an inspiration to those children, coming from what you might consider the hood — and he was not,” said one parent anonymously.

As the legal heat around Diddy grew more intense, he decided to temporarily step aside as chairman of Revolt TV, the digital cable network he helped launch in 2013.

The company announced Diddy’s departure in a November 28, 2003 statement on Instagram, writing:

“While Mr. Combs has previously had no operational or day-to-day role in the business, this decision helps to ensure that REVOLT remains steadfastly focused on our mission to create meaningful content for the culture and amplify the voices of all Black people throughout this country and the African diaspora.”

And just four months after the announcement of his temporary departure, Diddy completely severed ties with the network. On March 26, TMZ reported that Combs sold his shares in Revolt to an unnamed buyer for an undisclosed amount. According to TMZ’s reporting, the deal had been in the works long before the March 25 raid on Diddy’s home. But...

After a 25-year partnership, department store chain Macy’s decided to phase out Combs’ Sean John clothing line from its stores in November 2023. Macy’s began carrying the brand in 1998 and signed an exclusive partnership agreement in 2010.

According to Radar Online, sources from the store say they’d been phasing out the brand long before Combs’ legal woes came to light due to slow sales. But the timing of their decision to completely break ties with the brand doesn’t seem like a coincidence.

Footwear brand Rebecca Allen also left Empower Global in December. According to VIBE, the company’s founder and CEO said they were thinking about leaving the platform due to slow sales. But Diddy’s legal troubles made their final decision a lot easier.

“These harrowing allegations have expedited our decision, and we ended our partnership with Empower Global earlier this month,” Allen said.

According to VIBE, Ashli Goudelock, owner of skincare brand Tsuri, said the decision to part ways with Empower Global was a no-brainer. “As a women-owned and-led company, we do not and will not linger in a gray area about the mistreatment of women,” she said.

Shapewear line Nuudii System joined the brands in the mass exodus of Empower Global. According to USA Today, CEO Annette Azan confirmed the decision was based on the sexual assault allegations against Combs.

“Nuudii System is a women’s brand, (owned and run by me and my two daughters). We believe women and stand in support of them,” she said. “Frankly, we are sick of men trying to control our bodies and using their power to harm us.”

For nearly 20 years, most of Diddy’s dollars came from his partnership with London-based spirits giant Diageo. The company, which owns well-known brands, including Ketel One, Crown Royal and Captain Morgan.

But that partnership went south in June of 2023, when he accused the company of racism, claiming they kept valuable resources from his Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila brands that they shared with brands targeted to white people.

The two sides went back and forth in a bitter legal battle for months. But in January, Diddy and Diageo announced they would part ways for good. The two sides released a joint statement announcing they “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.”