Diddy has his eyes set on a new/old business venture, reaching back in time to attempt to buy back his brand Sean John amid its bankruptcy.
According to Bloomberg the mogul—more specifically, “an entity affiliated with Combs”—is seeking to acquire the fashion brand he founded in 1998 for $3.3 million. Diddy sold the majority of Sean John to the brand managment firm Global Brands Group in 2016, and now the parent company that owns 90 percent of the brand has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York.
Court documents reviewed by Complex reveal Diddy is currently the highest bidder for Sean John, but other hopeful buyers have until Dec. 15 to top his offer. Sources close to Puff told TMZ he’s “very excited” about trying to gain control of his old company and take the opportunity to breathe new life into it.
Diddy sued Global Brands Group for $25 million in February, alleging it used his image without consent to try boosting its profit margin. As cited in court documents, Diddy’s lawyer asserted that upper management fabricated a quote that falsely linked Puff to the company still.
“[Diddy] does not challenge [Sean John/GBG’s] right to use the Sean John trademark, but rather [Sean John/GBG’s] decision to leverage a fabricated quote they created and then falsely attributed to Mr. Combs, 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,” his lawyer said.
The week after that lawsuit, Diddy filed another one against GBG, per the New York Post, “for breach of contract, unfair competition, common law trademark infringement, deceptive practices, and unjust enrichment.” The second suit was for more than double the first, asking for “at least” $60 million.
