Rappers Snoop Dogg and Master P are claiming in a lawsuit that Walmart and Post Foods hid their cereal in a plot to sabotage them.
Snoop Dogg and Master P say the companies undermined Snoop Cereal by intentionally leaving the cereal off store shelves and hiding it in stockrooms after the rappers initially declined to sell the brand, but then entered into a contract in late 2022, according to a report by NBC News.
Calvin Broadus, known as Snoop Dogg, and Percy Miller, known as Master P, started Broadus Foods in 2022, saying they are “committed to inspire economic empowerment by adding diversity into the grocery stores industry and creating opportunities for minority-owned food products and brands.”
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, says that the rappers approached Post Consumer Brands — which the lawsuit calls a “breakfast juggernaut” — looking for a partnership, as they wanted to get Snoop Cereal onto store shelves.
Post Foods initially offered to buy the cereal brand outright — a proposal that Snoop Dogg and Master P rejected, saying they wanted to stick with their company’s goal to promote minority-owned businesses, adding that selling the brand would also stop them from leaving the company to their families as a legacy business, the lawsuit states.
Broadus Foods and Post Foods eventually came to an agreement on December 13, 2022, when the rappers signed a contract allowing Post to take over all aspects of Snoop Cereal’s production, such as manufacturing, packaging, retail, sales, distribution, and transportation, the suit adds.
In the contract, Broadus Foods and Post Foods allegedly agreed to split profits, with Post agreeing to “treat Snoop Cereal as one of its own brands” and distribute the cereal to “the major retailers including Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Amazon.”
But Post Foods did not treat Snoop Cereal “equally as its own brand,” despite the cereal selling well when it was put on store shelves, the lawsuit claims.
“Because the largest seller of Post’s products is Walmart, Snoop Cereal should have been placed on Walmart’s shelves right next to the dozens of other Post branded cereals,” the suit states. “Unbeknownst to Broadus Foods, Post was not on board with their goals and dreams and had no intention of treating Snoop Cereal equally as its own brand.”
The complaint goes on to allege that Post Foods treated Snoop Dogg and Master P’s cereal brand this way because the rappers had “refused to sell Snoop Cereal in totality.”
“Post entered a false arrangement where they could choke Broadus Foods out of the market, thereby preventing Snoop Cereal from being sold or produced by any competitor,” the suit claims.
The lawsuit cites one example in which it claims 200 boxes of Snoop Cereal where sitting in a Walmart store in Wisconsin for months, never being taken out of the stockroom and placed in the cereal aisle.
“In November and December 2023, Walmart stores consistently showed that they did not have Snoop Cereal in stock and online showed that it could not be purchased,” the suit alleges. “The Walmart store managers told customers that they did not have any Snoop Cereal in their store.”
Snoop Dogg and Master P are being represented by high-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump. They are claiming breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and collusion and conspiracy, and are seeking a jury trial for more than $50,000 in damages, the cost of the lawsuit, attorneys’ fees, and “further relief determined by the Court.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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