Brands cut ties with Sean Combs

In the wake of four sexual assault allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs, a number of Black-owned businesses are cutting ties with his newly launched e-commerce endeavour Empower Global.

People magazine can confirm that companies Tsuri , Nuudii System , Fulaba and House of Takura have all terminated their partnership with the platform, which first went live over the summer. Some 14 others have also severed ties with Empower Global, according to Rolling Stone.

People.

“We pulled Nuudii System off of Empower Global as soon as we heard the news of the allegations against Sean Puffy Combs,” said Annette Azan, who runs the shapewear and undergarment brand with her daughters, in a statement to People.

“We are a women's brand. We believe women and stand in support of them. There is nothing f---ing empowering in the mistreatment of women!”

Azan goes on to say that while she is “fully aware that these are allegations”, she believes "something happened”, especially when she considers how Combs settled his first suit with his ex, singer Cassie, out of court.

Combs first made headlines in November, whencassie filed a bombshell lawsuit against him, alleging that the rapper raped and sex trafficked her over the course of an abusive 10 years.

Though the lawsuit was resolved to their "mutual satisfaction" the following day, more women have come forward since then with allegations of abuse, sex trafficking and gang rape.

House of Takura, another female-founded business that sells handbags and eyewear aimed at “uplifting” women, said in a statement that it “takes the allegations against Combs very seriously and finds such behaviour abhorrent and intolerable.

“We do not at all condone any of Mr Combs’ alleged actions. We believe in victims' rights and support victims in speaking their truth even against the most powerful of people."

The statement continued: "Our brand is heavily focused on the empowerment of girls and women in Africa.we know all too well the indelible trauma that women in abusive relationships experience and the uphill battle that women and girls face in breaking that cycle and finding healing. Our hearts go out to Casandra Fine and all other women recovering from this cycle.” —