On the eve of Netflix’s release of Sean Combs: The Reckoning, attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs have issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding the streaming giant delay the premiere and accusing it of using unauthorized footage belonging to the embattled music mogul.
The docuseries, produced by Combs’ longtime rival, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, is set to debut Tuesday. A spokesperson for Combs called the project a “shameful hit piece” and claimed Netflix incorporated “stolen footage that was never authorized for release,” referencing material seen in the official trailer published Monday.
The clip includes a scene filmed just six days before Combs’ September 2024 arrest, in which he is heard saying, “We need to find someone who will work with us who has worked in the dirtiest of dirty businesses. We are losing.”
According to Combs’ spokesperson Juda Engelmayer, the footage was part of a decades-long effort by Combs to document his life for a future project and was never intended for external use. “Sean was making his own documentary since he was 19 years old. This footage was commissioned as part of it,” Engelmayer told CNN.
Engelmayer said neither Combs, currently serving a roughly four-year federal sentence — nor his legal team received an advance screening of the series. “We will see it tonight. Neither Netflix nor Mr. Jackson were kind enough to offer us a screener,” he said.
Netflix, in response, referred CNN to the docuseries’ director, Alexandra Stapleton, who insisted the production team obtained all materials lawfully. “We obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights,” she said, adding that the filmmaker who provided it was kept anonymous for safety reasons. Stapleton also said Combs’ attorneys were repeatedly invited to participate but declined.
In their letter, Combs’ lawyers warned Netflix that he “will not hesitate” to pursue legal action, citing his ongoing $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal over a separate Peacock documentary. They criticized Netflix for collaborating with Jackson, whom they labeled “a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta.”
Jackson has continued to mock Combs on social media, posting throughout Monday as the controversy escalated. A spokesperson for the rapper has not responded to CNN’s requests for comment.
Combs is currently serving a 50-month sentence after a jury convicted him of two counts related to transportation to engage in prostitution, while acquitting him of sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
He was transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to the low-security Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey in late October and is appealing both his conviction and sentence. His legal team has also approached the Trump administration about a potential pardon.
Beyond his criminal case, Combs faces around 70 civil lawsuits, many alleging sexual abuse dating back decades. He has denied all claims, and several cases have already been dismissed.
Despite the mounting legal battles, Netflix has given no indication it plans to halt the series’ release.
Source: CNN
Written By Rodney Mbua
