Walmart hits back at Snoop Dogg’s claims they sabotaged his cereal sales.
The rapper and entrepreneur filed a lawsuit against both Walmart and Post Consumer Brands on February 6, claiming they had sabotaged the roll-out of Snoop’s cereal brand by a means of “underhanded dealing” and “diabolical actions”.
Snoop and his business partner, fellow rapper Master P, claimed that Walmart and Post had conspired to ensure that either “Snoop Cereal would not be available to consumers” or would “incur exorbitant costs that would eliminate any profit.”
The suit alleges Walmart employees were instructed not to place Snoop Cereal on shelves, while the inventory system indicated there was no stock.
“However, upon further investigation by store employees, each of these stores had several boxes of Snoop Cereal in their stockrooms that were coded to not be put out on the store shelves,” the company’s lawyers wrote.
“Unlike the other Post branded boxes of cereal around them, these Snoop Cereal boxes had been in the stockrooms for months without ever being made available to customers.”
With the lawsuit yet to be heard in court, Walmart has strenuously denied all allegations, pointing to its record of working well with other entrepreneurs.
“Walmart values our relationships with our suppliers, and we have a strong history of supporting entrepreneurs,” the retailer said in a statement.
“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.”
