Key Insights
- Documentary Critique: Diddy criticized the Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning as a “shameful hit piece” using unauthorized footage.
- Legal Concerns: Diddy’s team raised concerns about the inclusion of footage recorded before his arrest, claiming it was misappropriated.
- Netflix’s Defense: Netflix stated they obtained the footage legally and attempted to contact Diddy for comment.
- Rivalry Involvement: Diddy expressed discontent over 50 Cent’s involvement as an executive producer, citing a personal vendetta.
Diddy has hit out at 50 Cent and Netflix’s new docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, labelling it a “shameful hit piece” that uses “stolen footage that was never authorized for release.”
Shortly before the four-part series, which “unpacks the shocking allegations behind [Diddy] and his Bad Boy empire, spanning decades of his life and career,” premiered on Netflix on Tuesday (December 2), a spokesperson for the incarcerated mogul issued a statement dismissing the documentary’s credibility.
Puffy’s team takes particular issue with the inclusion of never-before-seen footage recorded in the days leading up to his September 2024 arrest, showing the Bad Boy boss strategizing with his legal team over a phone call.
“We need to find someone who will work with us who has worked in the dirtiest of dirty businesses … We are losing,” Combs, who at the time had been hit with a wave of sexual assault lawsuits and was soon to be indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, says in the clip.
“As Netflix and CEO Ted Sarandos know, Mr. Combs has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story, in his own way. It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work,” Diddy’s spokesperson said.
“Netflix is plainly desperate to sensationalize every minute of Mr. Combs’s life, without regard for truth, in order to capitalize on a never-ending media frenzy. If Netflix cared about truth or about Mr. Combs’s legal rights, it would not be ripping private footage out of context – including conversations with his lawyers that were never intended for public viewing. No rights in that material were ever transferred to Netflix or any third party.”
In response, Netflix quoted Sean Combs: The Reckoning director Alexandria Stapleton who said: “It came to us, we obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights. We moved heaven and earth to keep the filmmaker’s identity confidential.
“One thing about Sean Combs is that he’s always filming himself, and it’s been an obsession throughout the decades. We also reached out to Sean Combs’ legal team for an interview and comment multiple times, but did not hear back.”
Diddy’s rep also slammed Netflix for involving 50 Cent, a long-standing rival of Diddy who they say has a “personal vendetta” against the mogul, as an executive producer of the docuseries.
“For Netflix to give his life story to someone who has publicly attacked him for decades feels like an unnecessary and deeply personal affront. At minimum, he expected fairness from people he respected,” the statement read.
50 Cent has yet to address Diddy’s complaint, but he did explain his intent behind the docuseries in an interview with Good Morning America earlier this week.
“If I didn’t say anything, you would interpret it as: hip-hop is fine with his behavior. There’s no one else being vocal,” he said.
Fif also rejected the notion that his so-called feud with Diddy injected a personal bias into the documentary, saying: “What they consider a pre-existing beef for 20 years is me being uncomfortable with him suggesting that he takes me shopping. I looked at like he was [testing me]. Like, ‘Maybe you’ll come play with me.’”
“It’s not personal,” he insisted.
