Snoop Dogg and his business partner Master P have filed a lawsuit against US supermarket giant Walmart and food company Post Consumer Brands for allegedly sabotaging their cereal brand. BBC writes.
Snoop Dogg and Master Bee founded their own food company, Produce Foods, in 2022. According to its website, they make cereal, pancake mix, maple syrup, and more. The rapper says Post Consumer Brands tried to force them out of business after they rejected the company's takeover offer.
Despite the fact that Broadus Foods dropped Post's takeover attempt, it entered into a partnership agreement with the company, and they agreed that Post could manufacture its products and distribute them to wholesalers, such as Walmart.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Walmart and Post Consumer Brands of “ensuring that Snoop Cereal was not available to consumers” and that Broadus Foods “incurred excessive costs that negated any profits.”
Master P also uploaded a video to his Instagram page, and the recording shows the rapper entering a Walmart store in Pennsylvania, asking a worker there if they have muesli in stock, and the worker checking the database saying they don't. The rapper then returns to the warehouse while it cools down, where the worker tells him the muesli will cost $12.97 anyway. “However, who would buy muesli for that amount?!” He asks the poetic question. In the warehouse, he also found pills that were supposedly out of stock (it is not clear how they were allowed into the warehouse part of the shopping center using cameras).
Both companies defend themselves by saying that few people bought the product. Walmart said it has a “long history of supporting entrepreneurs” and that “there are many factors that influence sales of a particular product.” “We were equally disappointed that consumer demand did not meet expectations,” the newspaper reported, stressing that it entered the partnership with high hopes and made a significant investment in the business.
The rapper is represented by Benjamin Crump, one of America's most famous civil rights attorneys. Crump called the case “a blatant disregard for a black-owned business.”
