"How come all these knockoff brands are successful and we don't have a chance?" asked Master P, whose legal name is Percy Miller.
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Miller and Calvin Broadus, known by most as Snoop Dogg, formed Broadus Foods, which produces several flavors of Snoop Cereal, in 2022. The two have hired prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump and filed a lawsuit against Walmart and Post Foods, accusing the two companies of "deceptive trade practices."
"This was collusion, breach of contract and fraud," said Crump at a Los Angeles news conference Tuesday. "A pattern and practice from coast to coast."
At the press event, Crump played a video he says shows shoppers in at least 20 Walmart stores across the U.S. searching for Snoop Cereal but failing to find any.
The video also shows unidentified Walmart workers showing the shoppers still sealed shipping boxes in the store room, saying Walmart never assigned the products a "location" in the store.
"They kept them back in the stock room!" Crump decried. "Where people who wanted affordable, nutritious cereal could not find them."
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Walmart and Post both declined our interview requests, instead releasing written statements.
A Walmart spokesperson wrote:
"Walmart values our relationships with our suppliers, and we have a strong history of supporting entrepreneurs. Many factors affect the sales of any given product, including consumer demand, seasonality, and price to name a few. We will respond as appropriate with the Court once we are served with the complaint."
A spokesperson for Post said:
"Post Consumer Brands was excited to partner with Broadus Foods and we made substantial investments in the business. We were equally disappointed that consumer demand did not meet expectations."
In a news release, Crump said Broadus Foods was created to "inspire economic empowerment among minorities and contribute to charitable causes addressing hunger and homelessness."
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Miller and Crump say they hope the lawsuit will also prevent other major corporations from robbing Black-owned businesses of the opportunities to create generational wealth.
"This is about minority-owned companies getting a fair share, and me and Snoop is going to be that force," said Miller.
Crump pitched the same theme.
"Give black-owned businesses a genuine chance to succeed and build the intergenerational wealth promised by the American dream."