When 50 Cent initially announced plans to put together a documentary surrounding Diddy and his longtime foe’s history of alleged sexual abuse tied to his federal case, many figured that was the G-Unit mogul back at his typical trolling ways.
Netflix picked up the documentary, produced by 50 Cent and directed by Alex Stapleton, and a release date for Tuesday (Dec. 2) was revealed last week, cementing that 50 was in fact very serious about putting the docuseries together.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning is broken down into four episodes about an hour in length each, detailing the rise and fall of Diddy, with contributions from those who worked close to him throughout his decorated hip-hop career — as well as those who were victims of his mental, physical and sexual abuse over the years. There’s also an episode dedicated to Diddy’s involvement in the East Coast-West Coast feud, and his ties to the deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac.
“I’ve been committed to real storytelling for years through G-Unit Film and Television,” 50 said in a statement. “I’m grateful to everyone who came forward and trusted us with their stories, and proud to have Alexandria Stapleton as the director on the project to bring this important story to the screen.”
The Reckoning filmmakers also got their hands also got their hands on revealing footage of Combs filming his day-to-day life in the days leading up to his eventual arrest on federal charges in September 2024.
“Being a woman in the industry, and going through the #MeToo movement — watching giants in music and film go on trial, and to know what their outcomes were … When Cassie dropped her lawsuit, I just thought this could go a million different directions,” director Stapleton added. “I wondered how she had the confidence to go out there against a mogul like Sean Combs. As a filmmaker, I instantly knew it was a stress test of whether we’ve changed as a culture, as far as being able to process allegations like this in a fair way.”
Stapleton continued: “This isn’t just about the story of Sean Combs or the story of Cassie, or the story of any of the victims, or the allegations against him, or the trial. Ultimately, this story is a mirror [reflecting us] as the public, and what we are saying when we put our celebrities on such a high pedestal. I hope [this documentary] is a wake-up call for how we idolize people, and to understand that everybody is a human being.”
The docuseries features interviews with a pair of jurors from Combs’ federal trial, who shed light on the jury’s decision to reach a mixed verdict as well as what they saw inside the courtroom.
Diddy was sentenced to 50 months in prison with time served after being found guilty on a pair of federal prostitution charges, but avoided the harsher charges when the embattled mogul was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking in October.
A spokesperson for Diddy declined to comment on the specific allegations made in the series. “Many of the people featured have longstanding personal grievances, financial motives, or credibility issues that have been documented for years,” Juda Engelmayer said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Several of these stories have already been addressed in court filings, and others were never raised in any legal forum because they’re simply not true. The project was built around a one-sided narrative led by a publicly admitted adversary, and it repeats allegations without context, evidence, or verification. Sean Combs will continue to address legitimate matters through the legal process, not through a biased Netflix production.”
Here are 10 things we learned about from Sean Combs: The Reckoning.
Two Jurors From Diddy’s Federal Trial Speak Out
Diddy was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering federal charges, but was found guilty on two counts of prostitution charges violating the Mann Act, and subsequently sentenced to 50 months behind bars, with time served in October.
Jurors 75 and 160 gave interviews in episode four of the docuseries, shedding insight into how the jury reached a mixed verdict. “[It’s] unforgivable, honestly. You can’t beat that small girl like that the way he did, [but] domestic violence wasn’t one of the charges,” juror 160, a millennial woman, said in relation to the footage of Diddy being violent with Cassie.
Juror 75, an older man who did not know of Diddy’s decorated hip-hop career, didn’t understand why Cassie would continue to come back to Combs after being abused repeatedly. “That was a very interesting relationship versus two people in love,” he said. “They are overly loved. They cannot explain. She wanted to be with him. He took her for granted. He never thought that she would leave and go. So just like both hands clapping together, you cannot clap with one hand, they both end like this. Then you get the noise.”
He continued: “If you see how they’re getting back together and exchanging text messages and like nothing ever happened. So now we are confused… He’s beating her, and the next minute they’re going on dinners and trips. It’s like going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. That’s my answer. I mean, if you don’t like something, you completely get out. You cannot have it both ways.”
Diddy’s Reaction to Dawn Richards’ Lawsuit: “Gloves Coming Off”
Danity Kane’s Dawn Richards filed a lawsuit against Diddy in 2024, claiming he sexually assaulted her, didn’t pay her an adequate wage and starved her while working together. She also claimed she witnessed Diddy physically abusing Cassie.
Days before his arrest on federal charges in September 2024, Combs was filming an unreleased project documenting his day-to-day life. The Reckoning filmmakers got their hands on the footage, which found Diddy reacting to hearing about the lawsuit.
“Dawn Richard just dropped a lawsuit on me. For $30 million,” he said in disbelief. “They’re crashing out. This girl that was in my group that was on my last album — you’re on my last album, now all of a sudden I’m this person, I’m this monster. F—k that, man. Gloves coming off.”
Former Sex Worker Details Freak-Offs With Cassie & Diddy on Anniversary of Biggie’s Death
Clayton Howard detailed the first time being called to a Manhattan hotel to participate in a freak-off with Diddy and Cassie. He claimed there was plenty of baby oil and Diddy actually went by “Frank Black.” Combs directed the entire operation. Howard said he received fellatio and had sex with Cassie multiple times and a session would last about 18 to 20 hours. He was paid $6,000 and would come back routinely, about every six weeks. “As the relationship progressed, Puff started to record us,” Howard explained. “He would literally pick the laptop up and put it on the bed next to us with some candles around it to make sure it was at an angle so it could be recorded.”
Howard claimed to see Diddy physically abuse Cassie on different occasions. He also said that they Diddy would fly him out wherever he was every March 9, which was the day Biggie was murdered in 1997. “Every March 9, the day Biggie got murdered, they would fly me to wherever they were. I would hang out, drink and party with them for three or four days while I had sex with Casandra. I don’t know if that was his release for that day or whatever, but they always called me on March 9,” he added.
Diddy Allegedly Planned to Kill Kid Cudi
Capricorn Clark began working with Diddy as an assistant in 2004 and rose to become an executive for Combs’ enterprises. She alleged that Diddy planned to murder Kid Cudi after finding out that Cassie was romantically involved with the Ohio-bred rapper. Clark recalled an enraged Diddy showing up at her door after hearing that Cudi, Cassie and Clark went on a hike together about a week prior.
“About a week after we went hiking, about 6:30 in the morning, I hear a banging at my door,” she said. “It’s Puff. His pants are split open, like a maniac, froth on the side of his mouth. He has a gun, and he’s mad as hell. He’s like, ‘Yeah, f—k all this. Go get dressed. We’re going to go kill him.”
Clark didn’t want to go and Combs allegedly kidnapped her and went to Cudi’s house with a gun, but fortunately, Cudi was not home, as he was with Cassie elsewhere. Clark claimed that Diddy “kicked the s—t” out of Cassie when he eventually saw her again.
Aubrey O’Day Claims She Was Fired From Danity Kane for Not Getting Sexual With Diddy
Aubrey O’Day was chosen to be part of Danity Kane during the third season of Diddy’s Making the Band. O’Day claims she was removed from the group after she denied Combs’ sexual advances.
“Diddy made it clear that I was ‘the looker,” she said. “I remember that phrase a lot. He was separating me and there was a different set of expectations from me, and I just naturally float into the grooming.” O’Day also alleged that Diddy repeatedly “crossed the line” and sent explicit emails that included photos of his penis.
“I don’t wanna just f—k you. I wanna turn you out,” she read an alleged email from Combs. “ I can see you being with some motherf—ker that you tell what to do. I make my woman do what I tell her to do, and she loves it. I just want — and like — to do things different. I’ma finish watching this porn and finish masturbating. I’ll think of you, happy face. If you change your mind and get ready to do what I say, hit me. Happy face. God bless, Diddy. God is the greatest.”
O’Day was removed from the girl group in October 2008.
Episode four of the docuseries also delivered a heartbreaking scene featuring O’Day reading an affidavit from a witness, who claimed to have witnessed the singer being sexually assaulted by Diddy and another man in 2005.
The affidavit said O’Day was naked from the waist down when the witness opened the door to see “Puff Daddy was penetrating in her vagina, and there was another stalky light-skinned man with his penis in her mouth.” O’Day claimed to have no memory of the alleged rape.
“I didn’t have a recollection of this,” O’Day said. “I didn’t drink like that at all — I don’t drink at all, it’s never been an issue with me. Does this mean I was raped? Is that what this means? I don’t even know if I was raped, and I don’t want to know. I don’t want to find out any more than that woman has to say.”
Portions of Never-Before-Seen Footage of Biggie’s Murder
Filmmakers received never-before-broadcast portions of footage from the fateful night of March 9, 1997, when The Notorious B.I.G. was killed following a party in Los Angeles. Footage shows Biggie in a blue truck pulling off and being quickly riddled with bullets, and then chaos ensues as the late rapper is transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Mark Curry Recalls Big Jake Shooting to Fuel East Coast-West Coast Feud
Former Bad Boy artist Mark Curry recalled the 1995 shooting of Suge Knight’s bodyguard Big Jake Robles outside a nightclub. Curry believes this incident played an integral role in raising tension in the emerging East Coast-West Coast feud. “Suge and Jake was being escorted out the club by the off-duty officer we always had there moonlighting. Jake come out, Suge come out, Puff come out. A man come out with one hand behind his back holding a pistol. He touched Jake with the pistol and was shooting Suge’s friend like this. He shot him five times,” Curry said. “Then the shooter ran. [The] Ambulance came and a couple days later he died. That’s what started the East Coast-West Coast war.”
Diddy Bought a $50K Necklace for One of Suge Knight’s Side Chicks
Kirk Burrowes explained that Diddy had a fascination with courting other guys’ side chicks and various women they’ve messed with in the past. Combs even allegedly asked Burrowes to take out $50,000 to purchase a diamond necklace for a girl that Suge Knight was involved with in Atlanta. “Sean wanted me to take $50,000 out of the overhead account so he could buy her a diamond necklace, wooing her because she was Suge’s side piece in Atlanta when he came there,” he said.
Kirk Burrowes Recalls Seeing Diddy Slap His Mother
It was a very stressful time in life for a young Diddy, following the deaths of nine people at the Heavy D charity basketball game he helped organize in 1991, which became known as the City College Stampede. Kirk Burrowes claimed to see Janice Combs question Diddy about leaving Howard University and entering the music business. “I saw him put his hands on her, call her a b—ch, and slap her. He’s not looking back,” Burrowes said. Reps for Combs did not respond to the filmmakers in regards to allegations of physically abusing his mother.Joi Dickerson-Neal Details Sexual Assault
Joi Dickerson-Neal, who has an active pending civil lawsuit against Sean Combs, detailed Diddy’s alleged sexual assaulting of her. She co-starred in a Finesse and Synquis music video alongside Diddy, and said he later assaulted her. Dickerson-Neal tearfully recalled the trauma that came with the assault, which included her mother penning a note to Sean Combs’ mother detailing her daughter’s nightmares caused by her son. Dickerson-Neal claimed that Diddy filmed the sexual act without her permission and showed it to friends at parties.
Bad Boy co-founder Kirk Burrowes theorized that Combs took the tactic of filming girls and showing the explicit videos at parties from notorious ‘80s NYC drug dealer Alpo Martinez. Years later, Dickerson-Neal ran into Combs and confronted him about the alleged assault and blackmail, which Diddy repeatedly denied while on his knees. She hasn’t talked to him since.
