Netflix’s newest docuseries, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, hasn’t even been out for a week, and it’s already setting Hollywood on fire. The four-part exposé, which dives deep into Diddy’s troubled legacy—from his chart-topping rise to his mounting legal scandals—has sparked a bitter war between the streaming giant and the hip-hop mogul’s camp.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team fired off a cease-and-desist letter just hours before the series’ release, accusing Netflix and executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson of orchestrating a “personal vendetta” disguised as journalism. The letter claims that Netflix is weaponizing Diddy’s rival to retaliate after the music mogul allegedly turned down a previous documentary deal with the streamer.
“This program is nothing but a web of lies spun from Mr. Jackson’s personal vendetta against Mr. Combs,” the letter reads. “Netflix has no choice but to yank this show immediately.”
Netflix, however, isn’t backing down. In a fiery response, the company dismissed the allegations as “baseless,” insisting all footage—including clips shot days before Diddy’s September 2024 arrest—was “legally obtained” and that Jackson “does not control the creative direction.”
“This is neither a smear campaign nor an act of revenge,” Netflix said in a statement. “Curtis Jackson’s involvement was based on his professional experience, not personal conflict.”
Still, Diddy’s camp alleges that Jackson paid participants to “trash-talk” the Bad Boy Records founder on camera and manipulated the narrative to amplify their infamous feud.
The letter even goes further—accusing Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos of greenlighting the project out of spite after Diddy rejected the streamer’s original proposal. “It’s corporate retaliation wrapped in a cultural takedown,” a source close to the rapper told THR.
Meanwhile, 50 Cent is owning his role. In an interview ahead of the release, he boasted that his connections in the music industry helped open doors for the production. “People know I’ve been outspoken about my issues with Combs,” he said. “They saw me as a trustworthy ally.”
Diddy’s representatives maintain the footage used in The Reckoning was “stolen” and claim the rapper has been “stockpiling his own material for a self-produced documentary.” His PR chief Juda Engelmayer emphasized the personal nature of the slight, citing Diddy’s respect for Sarandos and his late father-in-law, the legendary music executive Clarence Avant, known as “The Black Godfather.”
“For Netflix to hand Diddy’s life story to a long-time adversary feels like a gratuitous and deeply personal insult,” Engelmayer stated.
Netflix’s lawyers insist the project will air as planned—and that the streamer “will not be intimidated.”
This legal crossfire comes as Diddy continues to battle a $100 million defamation suit against NBCUniversal over its own Peacock documentary, Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.
With The Reckoning now live, the question isn’t whether people are watching—it’s whether Diddy will strike back harder than ever before.
