Sean “Diddy” Combs has landed a stellar new Netflix documentary on his life and numerous legal troubles, which is executive produced by his longtime rival 50 Cent.
The former Bad Boy Records executive and hip-hop star, who is currently serving a four-year sentence for prostitution-related charges, dismissed Sean Combs: The Reckoning as a “shameful hit piece”, and accused Netflix of including stolen footage.
The four-part series, debuting on Netflix on December 2, intends to present a “staggering examination of the media mogul, music legend and convicted felon,” featuring never-before-seen footage of Combs and his inner circle over the years. A new teaser released on Monday includes a clip of Combs from September 10, 2024, when the walls of his federal sex crimes case were closing.
“We are losing,” he says in a hotel room, cell phone in hand, before he calls “someone who will work with us who has done the dirtiest business.”
Through a spokesperson, the disgraced music mogul now claims that the footage, which includes “private moments, pre-indictment material from an unfinished project and conversations involving legal strategy”, was obtained illegally.
“Today’s GMA teaser confirms that Netflix relied on stolen footage that was never authorized for release,” the statement said. “As Netflix and CEO Ted Sarandos know, Mr. Combs has been gathering footage since the age of 19 to tell his story in his own way. It is fundamentally inappropriate and illegal for Netflix to misuse that work.
“None of this was obtained from Sean Combs or his team, and its inclusion raises very serious questions about how this material was accessed and why Netflix chose to use it,” the statement said, claiming that Combs’ legal team had been in contact with Netflix.
Combs’ response, in which he attributed 50 Cent’s “personal vendetta” to the series, comes hours after 50 Cent promoted the series on Good Morning America with director Alexandria Stapleton. He did not discuss how he obtained the footage, although Stapleton assured The Hollywood Reporter that “the footage was obtained completely legally”.
Asked if his involvement in the series was long-standing, if there was previously a low-stakes, personal rivalry – 50 Cent released a diss track mocking Combs in 2006 – the rapper demurred.
“It’s not personal,” he said, offering more good intentions: “If I didn’t say anything,” he said, the world would have thought “hip-hop is OK with their behavior. No one could be more vocal.”
In a statement announcing the series, Stapleton said the project “provides a mirror (reflecting) us as a public, and what we’re saying when we hold our celebrities in such a high place. I hope (this documentary) is a wake-up call to how we idolize people, and to understand that everyone is a human being.”
After a frenetic federal trial over the summer that included emotional testimony from Combs’s ex Cassie detailing years of abuse, Combs was convicted of two lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, for flying his girlfriends and male sex workers across the country to engage in drug-fueled sexual encounters. He was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges, for which he could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Combs was sentenced in October to four years and two months in prison. He is serving a sentence in New Jersey, and is set for release in May 2028, although he can reduce the sentence through his participation in substance abuse treatment and other prison programs. Still, his legal troubles continue: Just last month, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced it was investigating a new sexual battery charge against him, adding to an incident of exposure and sexual assault from 2020.
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