Total Wine Sued For Allegedly Tanking Champagne Brand For Drake Involvement

Total Wine is being sued by Mod Selection for their failure to market the Drake partnered Champagne as a luxury, instead choosing to just push it as a rapper product over the fine product it reportedly is.

Source: Vivien Killilea / Getty

Since the beginning of time, high-end luxury brands have tried to keep Hip-hop and black customers away from their brands. Decades ago, Jay-Z ended Cristal’s dominance over hip-hop by creating Ace Of Spades. Hov called for a full boycott of Cristal’s product because of the boss of the Champagne house, Louis Roederer, and his racist comments. As you can see today, it worked, and we haven’t seen the champagne in a music video or in black culture since.

Hov has always been the blueprint, one that Drake followed closely. According to TMZ, Drake’s first outing in champagne may have been tanked on purpose due to racism, according to a lawsuit filed against Total Wine and distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.

In the docs … Mod says Drake permitted the company to use his name, image and likeness to promote and market their champagne, but Mod claims Southern Glazer damaged that relationship when it “repeatedly subjected [Drake] to browbeating and dismissive treatment.”

Mod claims Drake considered this treatment to be motivated by “racial bigotry” … and says he was also angry Southern marketed Mod as a “black” or “rapper’s” champagne … suggesting racial insensitivity. Attorneys for Mod tell us they have texts from Drake calling out Southern.

It’s a story as old as time when it comes to certain products and places that sell high-end items. You would think they would try to market it correctly to sell more and make more money, right? Clearly, it’s only one reason why they wouldn’t and Mod Selection wants answers.