Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul who is facing mounting sexual assault allegations, has sold his majority stake in Revolt, the company announced Tuesday.
“Shares held by the company’s former chair, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, have been fully redeemed and retired,” Revolt said in a statement, according to NBC News.
The company said it will remain Black-owned and operated.
“As the company continues to pioneer a new era of entertainment that empowers creators and establishes a new media model, this transformative structure ensures that the employees who are driving the company’s growth also have the opportunity to benefit from its success,” it said.
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The New York Times was the first to report the development.
Revolt launched more than a decade ago. Combs has said he founded it to empower and tell the stories of Black people.
“Drink Champs” and “Caresha Please” are among its most popular video podcasts.
A trailblazer in hip-hop, media and fashion — having also created the Bad Boy music label and the Sean John clothing line — Combs’ business portfolio has been threatened since he was sued in November by his former longtime girlfriend Cassie. The singer and model, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, accused him in a bombshell lawsuit of physical abuse and sexual assault during their relationship.
Ventura, who was signed to Bad Boy, began dating Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and he was 37. One day after she filed her lawsuit, they settled on undisclosed terms. Combs’ lawyer said at the time that the settlement “is in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
Combs stepped down as chairman of Revolt that same month, and multiple lawsuits followed. He has been sued by four women, as well as by a music producer on his most recent album who accused Combs of sexually harassing, drugging and threatening him over more than a year.
He has denied any wrongdoing, saying last year that “sickening allegations” had been made against him by people looking “looking for a quick payday.”
Soon after Ventura’s lawsuit was filed, Hulu scrapped a reality television show that was to have followed Combs’ family, and he withdrew his lawsuit against a liquor brand as part of a settlement with the London-based spirits giant Diageo, which he had accused of racism.
In March, federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami, with a source telling NBC News at the time that Combs was the subject of a federal investigation.
Last month, CNN obtained surveillance video that corroborated one incident referenced in Ventura’s lawsuit. The video shows Combs kicking, striking and dragging her in a hotel in Los Angeles. Two days after its release, he issued a video apology on Instagram.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Combs said in the video. “I hit rock bottom — but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
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