Sean Combs Sells Stake in Revolt, the Media Company He Co-Founded
Sean Combs no longer owns Revolt. On Tuesday, the organization announced that Diddy, who is currently embroiled in numerous disturbing allegations of sexual and physical abuse, had sold his majority stake in the media company he co-founded in 2013.
“One hundred percent of Sean Combs’ shares have been redeemed and retired,” Revolt CEO Detavio Samuels told the New York Times. “He is no longer chairman. He is no longer on the board. He has no shares, no equity in Revolt. We have completely separated and dissociated from each other.”
Samuels confirmed to the outlet that the largest shareholder in the company is now its employees, though he did not say how much Combs was paid for his stake.
“Today, we are most proud of the transformation that our teams will experience as they shift from being employees to owners of the business they are helping to build,” Samuels said in a separate statement. “Black culture is global culture, and Revolt’s superpower is being the home for creators that move culture globally, allowing us to build the most powerful storytelling engine for Black voices.”
Combs had previously stepped down from Revolt’s board as chairman late last year after Cassie Ventura accused him of physical and sexual abuse in a lawsuit that was settled a day later. He’s also sold his stakes in tequila brand DeLeón.
Last month, after unearthed hotel surveillance video showed Combs physically attacking Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016, employees at Revolt issued a statement saying they were “deeply saddened and disturbed” by the footage.
The news from Revolt also arrives about a week after Rolling Stone published a six-month investigation into the disgraced music mogul’s prolonged history of violence with dozens of former friends, employees, and Bad Boy artists alleging abuse.
Aside from the seven sexual assault lawsuits against Diddy, the Rolling Stone investigation includes allegations that he beat a music executive for dating his ex, Kim Porter, and that he sexually harassed a graphic designer at a party in 2001. Rolling Stone‘s reporting also found that some of Diddy’s abuse allegedly dates back to his time at Howard University, where he was accused of whipping a woman he was dating with a belt. “She was crying. And we were telling him, ‘Get off of her.’ We were screaming for her,” one witness described.
Combs’ attorney did not respond to the specific allegations made by sources who spoke with Rolling Stone. His attorney, Jonathan Davis, said in a statement: “We are aware that the proper authorities are conducting a thorough investigation and therefore have confidence any important issues will be addressed in the proper forum, where the rules distinguish facts from fiction.”