Netflix defended the film on Tuesday night after the film’s subject, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and his team attacked the project as a “disgraceful blockbuster” that used “stolen footage that has not been authorized for release.”
A Netflix spokesperson told Variety: “The claims being made about ‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning’ are false. This project has nothing to do with any past conversations between Sean Combs and Netflix. The footage leading up to Combs’ indictment and arrest was obtained legally. This is not a blockbuster or an act of retaliation. Curtis Jackson is an executive producer but has no creative control. No one has received any participation fees.”
Netflix’s statement came on the heels of The Reckoning director Alexandria Stapleton, who insisted that all footage was legally acquired with all “necessary rights.”
“We moved heaven and earth to keep the identity of the filmmakers secret,” she said. “One thing about Sean Combs is that he’s always filming himself, and he’s been obsessed with it for decades. We also reached out to Sean Combs’ legal team multiple times for interviews and comment, but they never responded.”
A statement released Monday by Combs’ representatives claimed that Combs “has been collecting footage since he was 19 years old to tell his story in a unique way,” but that Netflix is taking his words out of context. It also claimed that executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is a “long-time adversary who has a personal vendetta and has spent much of his time smearing Mr. Combs.”
