Diddy Hits Back: Calls Netflix’s 4-Part Documentary a “Shameful, Illegal Hit Job” -

Sean “Diddy” Combs has slammed the Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, calling it a “shameful hit piece” and accusing the streaming giant of using “stolen footage that was never authorised for release,” and executive producer American rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson of having a personal vendetta.

Diddy, facing a federal prison sentence, is now the focus of a major Netflix documentary. The four-episode series, which premiered globally on Tuesday, December 2, explores his rise, influential musical legacy, and eventual fall

In a statement shared by Variety on Monday, Diddy Combs’s spokesperson said, “Netflix’s so-called ‘documentary’ is a shameful hit piece.

“Today’s GMA teaser confirms that Netflix relied on stolen 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.”

Diddy Combs has accused Netflix of sensationalising his life for profit, stating:

“Netflix is plainly desperate to sensationalise every minute of Mr Combs’s life, without regard for truth, to capitalise on a never-ending media frenzy.

READ ALSO: New York Judge To Sentence Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs After Blockbuster Trial, Prosecutors Seek 11 Years

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.”

Despite these claims, Tudum by Netflix reported on Tuesday that the series includes rare, intimate footage filmed by director Alexandria Stapleton just six days before Combs’s arrest.

The platform said they reached out to Combs’s team but did not receive a response. Stapleton added:

“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—it’s been an obsession for decades. We also reached out to Sean Combs’ legal team for an interview and comment multiple times, but did not hear back.”

Combs further criticised the decision to hand creative control to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, calling it a “personal breach of trust” and citing Jackson as “a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr Combs.”

Combs 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.”