Travis Scott has accused his ex-Kylie Jenner of ‘ripping him off’ with her new line of hard seltzers, insiders have claimed, as the estranged couple gear up to go head-to-head when their drinks brands hit the shelves later this month.
The 32-year-old rapper is launching Cacti 2.0 on March 15 – less than one week before Kylie, 26, is scheduled to drop her new brand, Sprinter, on March 21.
A trademark application for Cacti hard seltzer was filed in June 2020 before the product launched in March 2021 – while the couple were still very much together – but production later ceased after the Astroworld festival disaster.
Kylie’s attorney’s applied to trademark ‘Kylie Jenner’ for dozens of items in June 2019, including for ‘spirits; liquor; wine; alcoholic cocktail mixes; prepared alcoholic cocktail and prepared wine cocktails’ – but an application for Sprinter wasn’t filed until February 2023.
Kylie has been accused of ‘ripping’ her ex Travis Scott’s idea to launch a hard seltzer line after she announced her new brand, Sprinter, on Tuesday
Travis, 32, is launching Cacti 2.0 on March 15 – less than one week before Kylie, 26, is scheduled to drop her new brand on March 21
Insiders have claimed Travis feels Kylie only decided to launch a line of hard seltzers after they split, and ‘out of spite’
‘Kylie ripped his idea plain and simple,’ a source close to the rapper told DailyMail.com exclusively. ‘It wasn’t until they split that she got serious about this and she did it out of spite.’
Other trademark applications filed by Kylie Jenner Inc. in June 2019 included everything from restaurants, bars and cocktail lounges, to jewelry, clothing, rugs and baby accessories, as well as toys, vitamins, supplements and non-alcoholic cocktails and beverages.
The insider continued: ‘At the time when Kylie’s team got this trademarked, they got everything trademarked. She requested a trademark for dozens of products – leaving it open to creating any kind of business she wanted in the future.’
Kylie and Travis, who have children Stormi, six, and Aire, two, split in January 2023 – a month before an application to trademark ‘Sprinter’ was filed by Sprinter Spirits, LLC.
The reality star-turned-businesswoman, who is worth an estimated $1billion, announced the launch of the new drink on Tuesday with a sexy video of her posing in a bikini while flaunting the beverage in a swimming pool.
‘Sprinter is my answer to the growing consumer demand for quality canned cocktails,’ she said in a press release.
‘Not only does Sprinter have a unique bold branding that captures the feeling of fun with your friends, it is also the best tasting vodka soda I’ve ever tried – and I’ve tried a lot.’
Travis, who is worth an estimated $39.5million, appeared to throw some subtle shade when, just hours later, he posted a picture of two cans of Cacti to his Instagram story and wrote: ‘Nothing better.’
Travis appeared to throw some subtle shade when, just hours after Kylie announced Sprinter, he posted a photo of two cans of Cacti and wrote: ‘Nothing better’
Kylie posed in a black string bikini to announce her new product on Tuesday as she expands her business empire
Sprinter is a 100-calorie canned vodka soda made with premium vodka, sparkling water and fruit juice and is available at drinksprinter.com.
It is available in four flavors: Black Cherry, Peach, Grapefruit and Lime. Sprinter will be sold in an eight-can variety pack for $19.99. It is 4.5% ABV.
Kylie worked with drink development expert, Chandra Richter, for one year to perfect the new beverage.
Travis’ hard seltzer label is currently being promoted on his newly redesigned website, drinkcacti.com.
The cans also contain 100 calories and come in four different flavors: Paradise Slice (Tropical Fruit), Tropical Twist (Pineapple & Mango), Citrus Haze (Lemon Lime), and Berry Splash (Strawberry). Cans will be sold in a variety pack, according to the website, but it is not clear how many will be in it or what it will retail for. The drinks are all 5% ABV.
One month after his initial launch in March 2021, it was reported that Cacti had outperformed the launch of major hard seltzers and secured the highest first-week rate of sale for a variety pack in Anheuser-Busch history – the brewing company Travis partnered with.
Online inventory of the product had sold out within 12 hours while retailers across the country had reported stock selling out within 24 hours.
But it was pulled from shelves seven months later in the wake of the Astroworld scandal which saw 10 people killed during a stampede at Travis’ concert in Houston on November 5.
‘After careful evaluation, we have decided to stop all production and brand development of CACTI Agave Spiked Seltzer,’ Anheuser-Busch said in a statement. ‘We believe brand fans will understand and respect this decision.’
Kylie, who is dating Timothee Chalamet, isn’t the first of her family to foray into the alcohol industry.
Her sister Kendall Jenner, 28, already has a tequila line, named 818, which she launched in 2021.
Named the world’s youngest self-made billionaire by Forbes in 2019, Kylie’s other lucrative ventures include Kylie Baby, Kylie Skin and Kylie Cosmetics.
