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Snoop Dogg demands cut of brewing company sale after promoting its alcopops

By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 10 June 2015

Snoop Dogg has filed a lawsuit claiming that he is due 10% of the money generated by the sale of the LA-based Pabst Brewing Company last year.

It was bought by a group of investors last November. His reasoning is a clause in a contract signed when he became ‘brand ambassador’ for the company’s Blast By Colt 45 range of alcopops in January 2011, a deal that ran for three years.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Snoop cites a ‘phantom equity clause’ in his contract with the company, which states that he’d be due 10% of the net income if “the Blast by Colt 45 brand or the entire Colt 45 brand family is sold”. He adds that, while there is an ‘exception clause’ that says this arrangement doesn’t extend to a sale of the entire brewing company, for some reason he doesn’t think that clause should count in this situation.

“Despite the sale, Pabst has taken the (very convenient) position that no transaction has occurred such that subsection (a) of the Phantom Equity Clause would be triggered”, says the rapper’s complaint.

In a statement, Pabst told THR that this was the first anyone at the company had heard of the claim: “Pabst Brewing Company has been under new ownership and new management since November 2014. We have not been contacted by Snoop Dogg or his representatives about this issue. We are investigating the matter and would be happy to talk to Snoop or his representatives to try to get to the bottom of this”.

Snoop Dogg does so many ridiculous brand partnerships, it’s amazing that they don’t go legal more often. Still, this claim does seem a bit opportunistic.