Blues great Bo Diddley has filed suit against Nike in
Manhattan Federal Court, claiming the company "didn't give
him squat after selling thousands of T-shirts with his image
and the catch phrase 'You Don't Know Diddley,'" according to
Devlin Barrett of the N.Y. POST, who notes that the phrase
was "originally used" in an '89 Nike ad campaign featuring
Diddley and Bo Jackson. Diddley claims in the suit that he
was "paid for the original campaign" and that Nike
"approached him" last year "about a new marketing deal,"
but when the two sides "couldn't agree on royalties, Nike
walked away." Diddley later "discovered that Web sites and
other retailers were selling the shirts, and had hawked far
more than had originally been discussed." Nike Dir of
Global Issues Management Vada Manager said yesterday that
"both sides were working out a deal" and that the company
"had offered Diddley between" $10,000-15,000 in royalties.
But Diddley's attorney John Rosenberg responded, "That is
absolutely false. ... You can communicate back to [Nike]
that we find this proposal entirely unacceptable" (N.Y.
DAILY NEWS, 4/14). The AP's Larry Neumeister reports that
"nearly" 28,000 T-shirts were sold for "more than" $200,000
"after the company concluded it had an oral agreement" with
Diddley. The suit seeks unspecified damages (AP, 4/14).
