News | Entertainment
12 Dec 2025 11:59
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Netflix have defended their documentary about Sean 'Diddy' Combs after the rapper branded it "a shameful hit piece"

    The streaming service released Sean Combs: The Reckoning on Tuesday (02.12.25) and the four-part series includes "explosive" footage of the 56-year-old star - who is serving 50 months behind bars after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution - on the phone to his lawyers in the days prior to his arrest in September 2004, which his representatives branded "fundamentally unfair and illegal".


    However, Netflix have now hit back and insisted there is nothing untoward about The Reckoning.

    A spokesperson said in a statement: "The claims being made about Sean Combs: The Reckoning are false. 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 were legally obtained. This is not a hit piece or an act of retribution. Curtis Jackson [50 Cent] is an ex ecutive producer but does not have creative control. No one was paid to participate."

    Diddy's representative had blasted the use of private footage in the series.

    A statement said: "Netflix is plainly desperate to sensationalise every minute of Mr Combs's life, without regard for truth, in order to capitalise on a never-ending media frenzy.

    "If Netflix cared about truth or 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."

    The I'll Be Missing You hitmaker's spokesperson also attacked Netflix's "staggering" decision to give creative control on the series to rapper 50 Cent, who is described as a "longtime adversary with a personal vendetta".

    The statement read: "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."

    The disgraced star's spokesperson explained that the documentary featured footage that was "never authorised for release".

    They said: "As Netflix and CEO Ted Sarandos know, Mr Combs has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story. It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work."

    The documentary's director, Alexandria Stapleton, previously insisted she had the "necessary rights" to use the footage.

    She said: "It came to us, we obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights.

    "We moved heaven and earth to keep the filmmaker's identity confidential."

    50 Cent - who has a long-running feud with Diddy dating back two decades - is an ex ecutive producer and felt that it was necessary for the hip-hop world to address the crimes.

    The 50-year-old rapper told Good Morning America: "If I didn't say anything, you would interpret it as that hip-hop is fine with his behaviours. There's no-one else being vocal."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     12 Dec: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's father Thomas Markle is "stable" in intensive care
     12 Dec: Kim Cattrall has married her partner Russell Thomas
     12 Dec: Margot Robbie is determined to keep her young son out of the spotlight
     12 Dec: Michael Buble claims people should begin "listening to Christmas music in June"
     12 Dec: Owen Cooper still gets "shouted at" by his teachers
     12 Dec: Kim Kardashian changed her name just before making her debut on Keeping Up with the Kardashians
     12 Dec: Channing Tatum had a "man crush" on his late Magic Mike XXL co-star Stephen 'tWitch' Boss
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Departing winger Sevu Reece has no doubt the Crusaders and All Blacks will thrive in his absence More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Twenty-three staff at Health New Zealand earned more than a million dollars in the last financial year More...



     Today's News

    Entertainment:
    Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's father Thomas Markle is "stable" in intensive care 11:50

    Soccer:
    Nottingham Forest have claimed a third Europa League victory this season, winning 2-1 away over Utrecht  11:27

    Law and Order:
    Victims have given impact statements in Greymouth, where former Gloriavale leader Howard Temple will be sentenced 11:27

    Entertainment:
    Kim Cattrall has married her partner Russell Thomas 11:20

    Environment:
    Hundreds of iceberg earthquakes detected at the crumbling end of Antarctica’s Doomsday Glacier 11:17

    Environment:
    Scientists set up camp in middle of Antarctica to achieve a climate science first 11:14

    Law and Order:
    Two people are facing serious charges, after allegedly using Facebook Marketplace to kidnap and rob someone in Auckland last night 11:07

    Entertainment:
    Margot Robbie is determined to keep her young son out of the spotlight 10:50

    National:
    The United States CDC has abandoned science in its new advice about vaccines and autism 10:37

    Law and Order:
    The bus sector says violence on buses isn't rising, and Monday's fatal attack on an East Auckland bus is an extremely rare event 10:27


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd