Sean Combs: The Reckoning – a four-part docuseries about the eponymous rapper and mogul – has been making headlines as of late due in great part to a dispute. The day before the Netflix production premiered this week, Combs’ team called out the streamer and the show’s creative team for allegedly using “stolen footage” to produce the doc. Director Alexandria Stapleton denied those claims, asserting that the video was lawfully obtained. Now, a rep for the streaming company is responding to the allegations.
In the docuseries, there’s new footage of Sean “Diddy” Combs, which was recorded in the six days leading up to his arrest in September 2024. Combs’ team alleged in its statement that it was the rapper himself who arranged for that footage to be shot and that it was going to be used for personal purposes. From there, they accused Netflix of taking the video without permission. The streamer issued a statement (that was shared with Us Weekly) and denied acquiring the footage under illegal circumstances:
The claims being made about Sean Combs: The Reckoning are false. The project has no ties to any past conversations between Sean Combs and Netflix. The footage of Combs leading up to his indictment and arrest were legally obtained.
Produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, The Reckoning tracks Diddy’s rise to super stardom as well as the legal issues he’s been contending with over the past few years. The “Been Around the World” rapper and his team referred to the doc as a “shameful hit piece” and chastised Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos for its handling of the project. Diddy also took issue with Jackson – who he referred to as a “longtime adversary” – being involved with the show. With that, the streamer also defended the production and clarified Jackson’s role:
This is not a hit piece or an act of retribution. Curtis Jackson [50 Cent] is an executive producer but does not have creative control. No one was paid to participate.
50 Cent revealed in 2024 that he was producing a documentary about Diddy and, in recent months, he’s been trolling Combs over his legal woes. In addition to claiming Diddy’s lawyers did him “dirty,” Fiddy also vowed to prevent U.S. President Donald Trump from pardoning the Sean John exec. However, Jackson also said, during an interview that was released earlier this week, that his years-long feud with Diddy didn’t impact his decision to make the doc.
This back-and-forth over The Reckoning is playing out as Sean Combs serves out the rest of his four-year prison sentence at FCI Fort Dix. In July, Combs received a mixed verdict – as discussed in the docuseries – and was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Sentencing took place this past October during a hearing that saw Combs also offer apologies to those who’d made accusations against him.
Netflix subscription holders are now in a position to learn more about that legal saga via Sean Combs: The Reckoning, and they appear to be tuning in. As of this writing, the docuseries is the No.1 title on the streamer’s Top 10 TV list in the U.S. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if anything more will develop from off-camera disputes surrounding the production.
