Diddy is taking his former clothing company, Sean John to court for using his image, likeness, and persona without his permission.
The Hip Hop mogul has filed a $25 million lawsuit against his former clothing brand, Sean John, and the company’s new owner Global Brand Groups USA, according to All Hip Hop.
According to a complaint filed last Thursday, Sean John, which has launched a new women’s clothing line with the brand Missguided, used the mogul’s image, likeness, and persona without his permission.
Combs founded the company in 1998. He sold stakes to GCG USA in November 2016 for an estimated $70 million and still owned 20 percent, according to Forbes.
In the lawsuit, Combs claims that the companies fabricated quotes in an article that made it seem as though he endorses the Sean John x Missguided clothing line. His image was also included in a 40-second video campaign in promotion of the new collaboration.
Jonathan D. Davis, Comb’s lawyer, says he disapproves of using his image to promote a brand he no longer wishes to be associated with.
“He does not challenge GBG’s right to use the Sean John trademark, but rather GBG’s decision to leverage a fabricated quote they created and then falsely attributed to Mr. Combs,” Davis said. “And to use Mr. Combs’s name and other monikers to create the false and misleading impression that Mr. Combs is the decision-maker behind the designs and creation of the GBG Collection.”
He continued, “Sean John, GBG and Missguided are using the unapproved material, which contains false or misleading representations of fact, to promote and sell the items in the GBG Collection because they understand that associating it with Mr. Combs will significantly increase sales and profits.”
This isn’t the first time Combs has battled with the clothing brand. Last month, Combs accused the owners of using his “Vote or Die” slogan on SeanJohn.com.
This comes a month after Diddy reportedly filed his first lawsuit against Sean John over the trademark for the phrase “Vote Or Die.” He alleges that Sean John and GBG have illegally used and trademarked the phrase and was selling merchandise bearing the slogan during the presidential election.
