'Sean Combs: The Reckoning': Christopher Wallace, The Notorious B.I.G., and Sean Combs. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix (C) 2025 Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text The latest documentary to wade into the spectacular fall from grace of hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs may seem to be arriving late to the pile on - the larger-than-life rapper-producer has already received the multi-part documentary treatment twice since his 2024 arrest on federal racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. But this expansive, comprehensive four-part Netflix series has piqued interest ever since it was announced by its top producer - Combs' rap-world rival, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson - and it may be arriving at the right moment to provide a clear-eyed look at the whys and hows of the music industry icon's meteoric three-decade rise and inevitable downfall. The series also reveals new information that clarifies and expands upon previous elements of the rapper's story not linked to his current imprisonment. Related Stories TV 'Run Away': Harlan Coben and Stars Ruth Jones, James Nesbitt Preview Netflix Series News Diddy Slams 50 Cent's Netflix Documentary as Rapper Keeps Quiet on Rival's Pre-Arrest Footage Sean Combs: The Reckoning landed on Netflix this week, about two months after the rap power player was sentenced to 50 months in prison following a confounding federal trial over the summer. Jackson made a sport of roundly mocking Combs on social media on a near-daily basis as the eight-week trial unfolded, amid allegations that he coerced two women into allegedly nonconsensual, days-long, drug-fueled sexual trysts, which prosecutors argued were run through his many companies and businesses. In 2024, the government alleged in a five-count indictment that Combs used his business empire as a means of controlling his romantic partners into participating in his sexual fantasia - a theory the jury ultimately rejected. While recently released documentaries on Combs fixated primarily on this narrative and the other crimes he has been accused of perpetrating against collaborators, loyal staff and others pulled into his orbit, Jackson and director Alex Stapleton go much further back in Combs' life. They deftly show how this man - a monster to some and a self-made success to others - was formed, and how the extreme and rare power he amassed led him into behavior that ultimately landed him in a notorious Brooklyn lock-up and, as of last month, a New Jersey prison. Meanwhile, the floodgates of alleged crimes and misconduct continue to open via civil lawsuits, all of which he denies and maintains have no merit. In a somewhat surprising twist, this in-depth portrait coming from Combs' most tenacious gadfly may be the one that offers his most comprehensive, nuanced and evenhanded treatment to date. Interviewed here are his accusers, longtime collaborators, a childhood best friend and - for the first time - two of the jurors who helped acquit him of the federal charges that could have sent him to prison for life. "There was a lot of care and craft that went into making these four hours of story," Stapleton tells The Hollywood Reporter. "By allowing people to share perspectives that have been silenced for a very long time, we left the film in a place where it's up to the audience to decide what they want to believe." As the docuseries climbs Netflix's most watched charts this week - "It's going to No. 1," Jackson insisted to Stapleton in the joint interview below with THR - viewers' minds may already be made up about the truth of the former mogul's life, for better or worse. After all, this winding Diddy-vision trip through 30 years of hip-hop history reveals plenty of new information about the enigmatic Sean Combs - also known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy and Love. Combs has consistently denied all allegations against him, and this week his attorneys sent a cease and desist letter to Netflix, attempting to have the series removed from the platform. New, Controversial Footage Shows How Combs Ran His Legal Team Jackson and Stapleton were mum to THR on how the Diddy footage in the docuseries was obtained, but the filmmakers acquired new video that Combs shot of himself while sequestered primarily in a Manhattan hotel room as his arrest loomed. At times nervous, angry, and always magnetic, Combs appears close to cracking. These intermittent moments sharply contrast with the cool, all-powerful mogul who emerged from Mount Vernon and commanded a vast swath of the music industry. It is here that the control he exerted over his large legal team - before and after his arrest and throughout his federal trial - is on display. At one point, the master marketer bluntly levels with his attorneys about his PR battle. "Listen to me," Combs is seen saying by phone inside