Jerry Richardson is selling the Carolina Panthers amid allegations of sexual harassment, and Diddy is ready to step up.
Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson announced on Sunday that he’s selling the team. The sale comes after a bombshell report came out from Sports Illustrated where numerous people who have worked for Richardson over the years revealed sexual harassment from the 81-year old owner.
Richardson has owned the Panthers since they became an NFL franchise in 1995, but all of that is over. Last week a report came out naming numerous NFL Network employees in sexual harassment claims, and Richardson is the first active football figure to be taken down as part of the #MeToo movement.
With Richardson out, the question becomes who will buy the Panthers and remove him from power? We might not have to wait that long for a proverbial favorite to emerge.
Diddy — aka Sean Combs, aka Puff Daddy, aka P.Diddy, aka Brother Love — informed the world of his intentions to buy the Panthers almost as soon as it was announced they were up for sale.
The Rap mogul isn’t just talking up game he doesn’t have. Diddy, who has earned his riches in the rap and vodka game over the years, is worth a reported $820 million. Forbes has valued the Panthers as being worth $2.3 billion, so Diddy will need some help. What he does have, however, are the funds to become majority owner in a group that could purchase the team.
He’s also not wrong about the lack of black owners in sports. Never in the history of the NFL has there been a majority owner who is African American. In fact, of all the professional sports teams in America, only one has a black principal owner. Tha franchise also happens to be in Charlotte, as Michael Jordan is the majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
How fitting would it be that the barrier for having the first black owner in the NFL also falls Charlotte?
That’s Bad Boy for Life.