Netflix Responds To Diddy's Cease And Desist Letter Over Docuseries

Netflix is standing behind its Diddy documentary, pushing back against claims made in a cease-and-desist letter from the Bad Boy Records founder’s legal team. In the letter, dated Dec. 1 and initially shared by Deadline, reps for Diddy “and his affiliates” criticized the four-part docuseries as “a hit piece,” specifically zeroing in on the involvement of 50 Cent, an executive producer on the project. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO, got a mention too, with Diddy’s team alleging that he had unsuccessfully pitched a documentary about the mogul in 2023. “Thus, the choice of [50 Cent] to produce the program was Netflix’s vindictive response to that rejection—an attempt by Netflix and Mr. Sarandos to ensure a one-sided character assassination, rather than a balanced and accurate portrayal,” the letter reads. The letter went on to allege that documentary interviewees were paid, as well as reiterate claims that some of the footage included in the production—namely, video showing Diddy in the days leading up to his arrest—was “illicitly” obtained. Netflix reps have now disputed all of this. “The claims being made about Sean Combs: The Reckoning are false,” a Netflix spokesperson told Complex on Wednesday (Dec. 3). “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 is an executive producer but does not have creative control. No one was paid to participate.” Complex has also reached out to reps for Diddy for comment. This story may be updated. A spokesperson for Diddy said in a previous statement that they would not be commenting on “individual claims” featured in the Alexandria Stapleton-directed doc, which pulls from interviews with Bad Boy alum Mark Curry and Danity Kane’s Aubrey O’Day, among others. “Many of the people featured have longstanding personal grievances, financial motives, or credibility issues that have been documented for years,” the spokesperson said on the day the series was released to Netflix. “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.” The doc’s release follows Diddy’s conviction on two Mann Act violations and subsequent 50-month sentence, which he’s currently serving at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Amid ongoing news coverage of appeal efforts and related developments, a number of fake images purporting to show the 56-year-old behind bars have spread on social media.

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