Diddy Condemns 50 Cent’s Documentary as “Shameful Hit Piece

The much-anticipated docuseries about Sean “Diddy” Combs debuted on Netflix this week. It was executive-produced by rival rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. However, it faced quick pushback from Combs’ legal team. The four-part series *Sean Combs: The Reckoning* tells the story of the music mogul’s rise. It includes years of claims and the legal issues that led to his 2024 conviction and prison sentence.

Combs, serving time in New Jersey, called the project a “shameful hit piece.” He accused it of using “stolen footage that was never authorised for release.”

The Content and The Controversy

Sean Combs: The Reckoning offers a full view of Combs’ life. It shows his great success alongside the darker aspects of his empire. The series, directed by Alex Stapleton, features interviews with former collaborators, associates, and artists. It highlights a long history of coercion, abuse, and retaliation experienced by women.

Unseen Footage at the Center of the Dispute

The most surprising part of the documentary is the footage from a hotel room filmed right before Combs’s arrest in September 2024. This intimate footage shows Combs looking strained on camera. He paces, strategises with his legal team, and reacts to headlines. He even tells his videographer how to shape the public narrative.

Combs’ team says the footage, taken for an unfinished personal project, was used without permission. “None of this footage is from Mr. Combs or his team,” his spokesperson said. They also noted that its use “raises serious questions about how it was obtained and why Netflix chose to include it.”

Filmmakers and Netflix have pushed back on the claims of illegality. Director Alexandria Stapleton stated that all footage was “obtained legally” and that they have the right to use it. She also said Combs has been “amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story.” However, the production had to find other ways to proceed after Combs’ team didn’t respond to several requests for an interview and comment.

The 50 Cent Factor

The inclusion of 50 Cent as an executive producer is the linchpin of the controversy. Jackson and Combs have had a highly publicized, two-decade-plus fight. Combs’s legal team hit back, calling Jackson a “longtime adversary with a personal vendetta” who has spent years “slandering Mr. Combs.”

50 Cent has defended his role, saying the project isn’t about hate. It’s about holding the hip-hop community accountable. He told Good Morning America that if he hadn’t spoken up, “you would think hip-hop accepts his behaviour,” suggesting a cultural duty to tackle the allegations.

The Legal Backdrop of the Release

The documentary will be released on December 2, 2025. This comes as Combs is serving a sentence of four years and two months. He was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted on the more serious sex trafficking and racketeering counts.

The series is a four-part documentary. It features interviews with two jurors from the trial. They explain their reasons for the mixed verdict. It’s not just a true-crime story about Combs’ crimes. It’s an important look at celebrity culture and the systems that protect powerful people. Netflix brushed off a last-minute legal threat from Combs’s lawyers and launched the documentary globally. This move will spark new discussions about one of music’s most dramatic falls from grace.