Sean “Diddy” Combs has condemned the upcoming Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning as a “shameful hit piece”, accusing the streaming service of incorporating footage obtained unlawfully. The four-part series, executive produced by his long-time rival 50 Cent, is scheduled to debut on 2 December.
In a statement issued through a spokesperson, the incarcerated music mogul claimed the series includes “private moments, pre-indictment material from an unfinished project and conversations involving legal strategy” that were never authorised for release. The statement noted that Combs had been amassing footage since the age of 19 to tell his own story, and that it was “fundamentally unfair, and illegal” for Netflix to misappropriate that work.
The allegations follow the release of a teaser on Monday showing Combs in a hotel room on 10 September 2024, saying “We’re losing” and calling for “somebody that’ll work with us that has dealt in the dirtiest of dirty business”. Netflix rejected the claims, with a spokesperson telling Deadline that the footage was “legally obtained” and that the project was “not a hit piece or an act of retribution”.
50 Cent, who promoted the series on Good Morning America alongside director Alexandria Stapleton, dismissed suggestions of a personal vendetta, despite having released a diss track about Combs in 2006. He said he spoke out so the world would not think “hip-hop is fine with his behaviours”, adding: “There’s no one else being vocal.” Stapleton said the series offered “a mirror reflecting us as the public” and hoped it would serve as “a wake-up call” about the way celebrities are idolised.
Combs was convicted over the summer of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, relating to flying girlfriends and male sex workers across the country for drug-fuelled encounters, and was acquitted of more serious sex-trafficking and racketeering charges. He was sentenced to four years and two months in October and is being held in New Jersey, with release scheduled for May 2028. Separately, the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department is investigating a new allegation of sexual battery against him from 2020.
