Diddy Slams 50 Cent’s Netflix Documentary as Rapper Keeps Quiet on Rival’s Pre-Arrest Footage

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ team is speaking out about the new Netflix documentary from producer and his longtime rival, rapper 50 Cent, slamming the series that features footage the beleaguered mogul had shot of his life in the days before his September 2024 arrest as “a shameful hit piece” that is an “unfair,” “illegal” and an “unnecessary and deeply personal affront.”

The blistering statement from Combs’ publicist comes hours after Good Morning America aired a segment that features an interview with 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, and Alex Stapleton, the director of Sean Combs: The Reckoning. Also included in the GMA segment is footage from the docuseries of Combs that was shot in the days leading up to his arrest. Combs is currently serving a 50-month sentence on charges stemming from his sensational federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial that took place this summer, which ended in a split verdict in which he was found guilty of charges related to the Mann Act but spared on the sex trafficking and RICO charges, which could have sent him to prison for life. 

“Netflix’s so-called ‘documentary’ is a shameful hit piece. Today’s GMA teaser confirms that Netflix relied on stolen footage that was never authorized for release,” the statement from PR rep Juda Engelmayer and sent to The Hollywood Reporter on Monday afternoon reads. “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 is plainly desperate to sensationalize every minute of Mr. Combs’s life, without regard for truth, in order to capitalize on a never-ending media frenzy. If Netflix cared about truth or about Mr. Combs’ 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 continues.

“It is equally staggering that Netflix handed creative control to Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson — a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr. Combs. Beyond the legal issues, this is a personal breach of trust. Mr. Combs has long respected Ted Sarandos and admired the legacy of [Sarandos’ late father-in-law] Clarence Avant. 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 statement concludes. 

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Monday ahead of the docuseries Tuesday release, both Jackson and Stapleton were tight-lipped about how the pre-arrest footage was acquired for their series, with the rapper asking THR, “Why would you ask us to reveal our sources?” 

“The footage was obtained completely legally,” Stapleton told THR. 

However, on Monday the New York Times shared another statement from Engelmayer asserting that the footage was “never authorized for release.” It includes “private moments, pre-indictment material from an unfinished project and conversations involving legal strategy,” according to the rep.

A second trailer for the Netflix series was released on Monday morning. It shows Combs in a hotel room six days prior to his arrest at a Manhattan hotel in September 2024. “We have to find somebody that’ll work with us that has dealt in the dirtiest of dirty business,” the mogul says in a phone call included in the trailer.

In the GMA segment, the rap mogul, who is now serving his sentence in New Jersey while working on an appeal of his case, is also seen in footage from the series in what appears to be a conversation with his attorneys.

“Listen to me,” Combs is seen saying by phone inside a hotel room. “I am going to let you professionals look at the situation and come back to me with a solution. … Y’all are not working together the right way. We’re losing.”

Footage from GMA also shows Diddy with a fan, then later asking for hand sanitizer and saying he’s been “in the streets amongst the people. I’ve got to take a bath.” 

THR has reached out to Netflix regarding Engelmayer’s statements but did not immediately hear back from the streaming giant. 

Sean Combs: The Reckonning releases on Tuesday on Netflix.