Sean Combs is pushing again forcefully towards the upcoming Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, calling the challenge “an unfair and unlawful hit job” and accusing the streamer of counting on “stolen footage that was by no means licensed for launch.” The collection, produced by 50 Cent and directed by Alexandria Stapleton, is ready to premiere globally on December 2.
A spokesperson for Combs launched a sharply worded assertion criticizing each the documentary and the platform distributing it. The rep insists that Netflix lifted private video archives that Combs has been gathering since he was nineteen, footage he supposed to make use of for his personal autobiographical challenge. The assertion additionally singles out Ted Sarandos, saying Combs anticipated “equity” from somebody he had lengthy revered.
When requested about Combs’ declare of stolen materials, Netflix directed inquiries to Stapleton, who maintains that the manufacturing group secured each body legally. “It got here to us, we obtained the footage legally and have the required rights,” she mentioned. “We additionally reached out to Sean Combs’ authorized group for interviews and remark a number of occasions, however didn’t obtain any response. One factor about Sean Combs is that he has at all times filmed himself, and it has been an obsession for many years.”
Tensions escalated after Netflix launched a brand new teaser exhibiting Combs on a telephone name recorded six days earlier than his twenty twenty 4 arrest. The clip options Combs saying, “We have to discover somebody who will work with us who has labored within the dirtiest of soiled companies. We’re shedding.” His spokesperson says the excerpt was taken out of context and insists a number of the included recordings have been personal discussions with attorneys that have been by no means meant for the general public.
The assertion additionally calls out 50 Cent straight, describing him as “a longtime adversary with a private vendetta who has spent years slandering Mr Combs” and questioning why Netflix allowed him to form a challenge centered on somebody he has publicly feuded with for many years.
In Combs’ phrases, the docuseries is “a shameful hit piece” pushed by sensationalism. “Netflix is plainly determined to use each minute of Mr Combs’ life to feed a by no means ending media frenzy,” the assertion reads. “No rights in that materials have been ever granted to Netflix or any exterior celebration. It’s basically unfair and unlawful for Netflix to misappropriate that work.”
The spokesperson goes additional, calling the challenge “a private breach of belief,” noting Combs’ admiration for the late Clarence Avant and his earlier respect for Sarandos. “For Netflix handy his story to somebody who has publicly attacked him for many years feels pointless and deeply private.”
As of now, Netflix stands by the challenge and its rights to the footage, whereas Combs’ group continues to problem these claims. The dispute is unfolding in actual time, setting the stage for a contentious premiere of The Reckoning.
