PepsiCo gained the dismissal of a lawsuit by a former govt who mentioned the meals and beverage firm defrauded and defamed him by denying that he invented Flamin’ Scorching Cheetos.
In a call on Wednesday, US District Choose John Holcomb mentioned Richard Montanez, who retired from PepsiCo in 2019 to turn into a full-time motivational speaker, didn’t present that PepsiCo and its Frito-Lay unit deliberately reneged on a promise to inform the “true story” of how he created the favored spicy chips.
The Santa Ana, Calif.-based choose additionally mentioned PepsiCo didn’t defame Montanez by allegedly refusing in 2023 to help in a documentary about his life until it debunked his declare.
Holcomb mentioned the precise malice commonplace for defamation, requiring information of falsity or reckless disregard for the reality, was acceptable based mostly on Montanez’s describing himself as “part of the cultural canon” via two best-selling books and a success film directed by Eva Longoria.
Legal professionals for Montanez didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Thursday. Camille Vasquez, a lawyer for Buy, NY-based PepsiCo, declined to remark.
Montanez started in 1976 as a Frito-Lay janitor in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and rose to turn into PepsiCo’s vp of multicultural advertising and marketing and gross sales.
He mentioned he sparked what grew to become Flamin’ Scorching Cheetos round 1989, when took unflavored Cheetos house to experiment with seasonings and “drew inspiration” from elote, a Mexican grilled corn seasoned with chili powder.
PepsiCo launched Flamin’ Scorching Cheetos in 1992, and made it a multibillion-dollar model.
Montanez mentioned he as soon as booked 35 talking engagements yearly at $10,000 to $50,000 every however misplaced most bookings after a Los Angeles Occasions article in Might 2021 wherein Frito-Lay rejected the “urban legend” that he invented the snack chips.
Frito-Lay later mentioned its feedback had been misconstrued, and it had no purpose to doubt Montanez’s efforts to create new Cheetos merchandise.
The newspaper defended its reporting.
Montanez’s story about Flamin’ Scorching Cheetos was instructed in Longoria’s 2023 movie “Flamin’ Hot” and in two memoirs.
The case is Martinez v PepsiCo Inc et al, U.S. District Court docket, Central District of California, No. 24-01792.
