Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs have hit out at a new Netflix documentary produced by rapper 50 Cent, which they say is “a shameful hit piece” that “relied on stolen footage”.
The four-part documentary, titled Sean Combs: The Reckoning, was released on Tuesday and is billed as a “staggering examination” of the hip-hop mogul, who was convicted on prostitution-related charges earlier this year.
It includes what Netflix described as “explosive” footage of Combs filmed in the days before his arrest, including a phone conversation with his lawyers.
The director said she obtained the footage legally, but Combs’ spokesman said it was “fundamentally unfair, and illegal” to use his private footage.
‘Personal vendetta’
He also said it was “staggering” that Netflix had given creative control to 50 Cent, who he described as “a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta”.
“Netflix is plainly desperate to sensationalise every minute of Mr Combs’s life, without regard for truth, in order to capitalise on a never-ending media frenzy,” the statement said.
“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.”
The statement added: “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 documentary opens with footage of Combs in a hotel room six days before arrest in September 2024, talking on the phone to attorney Marc Agnifilo and telling him he wants to “fight for my life”.
Pushing Agnifilo to have a more upfront media strategy to protest his innocence, Combs told him: “We have to find somebody that’ll work with us. It has to be somebody that has dealt in the dirtiest of dirtiest of dirty business of [the] media and propaganda.”
At another point, viewers see Combs talking to his son Justin on the phone five days before his arrest. “God told me to do nothing… [but] other people need to do something ’cause this is ridiculous,” he said in the clip.
Combs’ spokesman said the documentary contained footage that was “never authorised for release”.
“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.”
Netflix has not responded to a request for a response but pointed US media to comments it has published from the documentary’s director Alexandria Stapleton.
“It came to us, we obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights,” she said. “We moved heaven and earth to keep the film-maker’s identity confidential.”
The documentary is executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, whose long-running feud with Combs stretches back two decades.
Jackson told ABC News’ Good Morning America on Monday: “If I didn’t say anything, you would interpret it as that hip-hop is fine with his behaviours. There’s no-one else being vocal.”
The documentary covers Combs’ career as one of the most powerful men in hip-hop, and includes allegations that he was involved in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.
It features tapes of a police interview in which former gang member Duane “Keffe D” Davis claims that Combs offered him $1m (£769,000) for a hit on Shakur.
Mr Davis is set to stand trial for Shakur’s murder in 2026. He now says his proffer agreement with police, under which he agreed to tell them what he knew but it couldn’t be used against him in court, was given under duress, according to Netflix.
The programme also includes Kirk Burrowes, who co-founded Bad Boy Entertainment with Combs, claiming that he believes Combs “had a lot to do with the death of Tupac”.
Combs has always denied any involvement in Shakur’s death.
The documentary also features further claims of violence and threats, many of which have previously been made public in dozens of lawsuits, including alleged abuse against former girlfriend Cassie, which ended in a settlement.
