Netflix Defends Ted Sarandos as Diddy’s Lawyers Claim Stolen Footage in 50 Cent’s “Vindictive” Docuseries

Netflix is defending its co-CEO Ted Sarandos by hitting back at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ team after the company received a cease-and-desist letter regarding the new docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, and is refuting claims by the rapper’s team that his rival, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, was brought on to produce the series as a form of corporate revenge after Diddy turned down an offer from the streaming giant.

On Monday, the eve of the release of the four-part docuseries chronicling the rap mogul’s career over several decades, Netflix’s chief legal officer received a letter demanding the project be taken down from the streaming platform. In the letter, which has been obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, a rep for Combs claims that new footage of the beleaguered Bad Boy Records founder that punctuates the series and was shot in the days before Combs’ September 2024 arrest in New York is “stolen,” and that creative control of the series was handed to his longtime rival Jackson. The rep claims Jackson was recruited for the “hit piece” after a deal collapsed for Combs to bring a documentary about his life to the streamer.

“The program is based on fabrications borne from Mr. Jackson’s personal vendetta against Mr. Combs,” the letter states. “For this reason alone, Netflix must withdraw the program.”

On Wednesday, a representative for Netflix shared a statement in response with The Hollywood Reporter.

“The claims being made about Sean Combs: The Reckoning are false,” the rep said. “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 was legally obtained. This is not a hit piece or an act of retribution. Curtis Jackson is an executive producer but does not have creative control. No one was paid to participate.”

The letter states that Sarandos turned to Jackson as a “vindictive response” to Combs’ decision not to agree to a deal. It also claims that Jackson paid those who appear in the series to speak negatively about Combs on camera and twisted facts to heighten the tension between the two rappers.

“The choice of Mr. Jackson to produce the program was Netflix’s vindictive response to that rejection —an attempt by Netflix and Mr. Sarandos to ensure a one-sided character assassination, rather than a balanced and accurate portrayal. It also ensured that a flagrant act of corporate retribution against Mr. Combs would be re-cast as one famous Black man attacking another.”

Speaking with THR ahead of the docuseries’ release, Jackson suggested that his fame in the hip-hop community helped open doors for the project and even secured him a meeting with Cassie Ventura and her husband. He did not mention paying the docuseries’ subjects.

“It’s about the best documentary that we could make,” the rapper told THR. “And the idea, of course, being a part of hip-hop is going to allow me access, and the people knowing that I was being vocal about not being comfortable with things that went on [with Combs] would allow them to see me as a place to be safe.”

Sarandos’ name is also mentioned in the statement from the jailed rapper’s new rep as being aware that “Combs has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story, in his own way,” suggesting it was intended for a future self-produced documentary. The statement from Combs’ rep adds, “It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work.”

In the statement, which came from Combs’ new PR chief Juda Engelmayer, Sarandos’ name is again mentioned in the context of “the legacy of Clarence Avant.” Sarandos is married to Nicole Avant, the daughter of legendary music executive Clarence Avant, who is often referred to as “The Black Godfather.”

“Mr. Combs has long respected Ted Sarandos and admired the legacy of Clarence Avant,” the statement reads. “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 a minimum, he expected fairness from people he respected.”

The legality of acquiring the footage of Combs ahead of his arrest was addressed by Stapleton in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Monday. The director said all of the footage was “obtained completely legally.”

In the letter, the attorneys state that “Combs has not hesitated to take legal action against media entities and others who violate his rights, and he will not hesitate to do so against Netflix.” Combs previously filed a $100 million defamation suit against NBCUniversal over a documentary it aired on Peacock titled Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.