Diddy Wants To Buy His Sean Jean Clothing Line Out Of Bankruptcy
Could P. Diddy be in the market for a new bankruptcy attorney? You may remember hearing about the mogul and his former company mixing it up all the way back at the beginning of the year, and this new development is adding a new wrinkle to the story. We’ll get you all caught up on the action, so read on to learn about what’s happening with Sean Jean and P. Diddy.
The Story So Far…
In February of 2021, outlets like Yahoo! News began reporting that Diddy (real name Sean Combs) was suing the Sean Jean brand, which he founded in 1998 and sold to the management firm Global Brand Group in 2016, for $25 million. The issue, according to Combs and his lawyers, was that the brand was using his image and likeness without permission:
“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.”
That initial lawsuit was just the tip of the iceberg, though, as Combs also filed a $60 million lawsuit on February 11th, 2021, in regards to his trademark “Vote or Die” slogan:
“The suit against GBG Sean John LLC, first reported by AllHipHop, alleges that the mark is owned by Citizen Change, a nonprofit headed by Diddy that was founded in 2004. At the time, Diddy registered the trademark for the slogan “Vote Or Die” for his nationwide voter participation campaign.”
The source goes on to note that although the “Vote or Die” trademark was canceled due to a failure to file renewal documents back in 2016, the rapper continued using the slogan on merchandise all the way through the 2020 presidential election, and GBG’s attempt to use the phrase was an attempt to “make consumers believe the rapper, who owns only a minority share of the fashion brand, was still involved with it.”
According to Diddy’s lawyer at the time, Jonathan Davis, the businessman was not challenging GBG’s right to use the Sean John trademark, but was instead focused on the use of fabricated quotations and other insinuations that created the false impression that he was behind the designs and creations of one of their new initiatives.
At the time, we were all wondering where this war between Diddy and his former brand was going to go, and now, months later, it seems we have some answers.
Recent Developments In The Sean Jean Saga
Fast forward to the present day, and GBG is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to the havoc COVID-19 has wrought on their organization. This means that GBG is selling off brands it once held dear, and has given Combs an opportunity to make a bid on his new/old business venture.
According to Bloomberg, Combs has placed a bid of $3.3 million to buy the remaining Sean Jean assets, a so-called “stalking horse bid” that has opened things up for others to place bids as well. We’ll see if Diddy remains the highest bidder and what will take place after.
