A spokesperson for Sean “Diddy” Combs has has slammed 50 Cent’s upcoming Netflix docuseries “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” as a “shameful hit piece” and accused Netflix of using “stolen footage that was never authorized for release.”
When reached for comment about the allegation of stolen footage, a representative for Netflix directed Variety to a quote from docuseries 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 filmmaker’s identity confidential. One thing about Sean Combs is that he’s always filming himself, and it’s been an obsession throughout the decades. We also reached out to Sean Combs’ legal team for an interview and comment multiple times, but did not hear back.”
Combs’ representative released the statement on Monday, the day before “The Reckoning” premieres, after Netflix released a new teaser for the docuseries. In it, Combs is seen on a phone call six days before his 2024 arrest, saying, “We need to find someone who will work with us who has worked in the dirtiest of dirty businesses. We are losing.”
Combs’ rep says that “Combs has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story, in his own way,” but that Netflix is using his words out of context. The statement also name-checks Ted Sarandos multiple times, saying Combs has “long respected” the Netflix CEO and that he “expected fairness from people he respected.” Additionally, the rep wrote that 50 Cent is “a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr. Combs” and that it is “staggering that Netflix handed creative control” to him.
Read the full statement below.
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. 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’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.
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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 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.
From Variety US