The Downfall of Diddy Inc.

[Gunnar Larson]

The Downfall of Diddy Inc.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-01-18/diddy-diageo-and-the-decline-of-a-celebrity-business-empire


    Even before four women accused him of sexual assault, Sean “Diddy”
Combs was having a bad year. He’d been on the verge of hatching “the
largest Black-owned cannabis company in the world,” promising he’d help
Black people who’d been disproportionately criminalized by harsh drug laws.
But by July the $185 million deal to acquire the operations of two large
weed companies in several states had fallen through. Around the same time,
he explored making an offer for Paramount Global’s BET, the first
Black-owned cable network, as part of what a confidant told Variety was
“his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse.” In August,
however, Paramount pulled the network off the market, before reportedly
considering a sale to a management group a few months later for almost $2
billion. The following month, Combs dropped The Love Album: Off the Grid,
his first solo record in 17 years, featuring Justin Bieber, the Weeknd,
John Legend and Mary J. Blige. “It’s the Super Bowl of R&B,” Combs told the
Today show. “One of the greatest combinations of talent put together on an
album in history!” But even with the parade of high-profile cameos, Love
peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it the worst
performer yet by an artist many have long considered a second-tier rapper
and mediocre producer. A Guardian reviewer wrote that Combs’ album was
“oddly dissatisfying” and called his sultry patter with a female protégée
on one cut “rather creepy.”
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