Diddy’s lawyers send cease and desist to Netflix for ‘shameful’ 50 Cent docuseries

Lawyers for the incarcerated Bad Boy Records founder say that “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” is “unfair and illegal.”

On the eve of 50 Cent’s release of his new Netflix docuseries “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs sent a cease-and-desist letter to Netflix, calling the project a “shameful hit piece.”

“Beyond the legal issues, this is a personal breach of trust. Mr. Combs has long respected Ted Sarandos and admired the legacy of Clarence Avant,” Diddy’s legal team wrote in a statement,” mentioning the Netflix CEO and the late film producer. “For Netflix to give his life story to someone who has publicly attacked him for decades feels like an unnecessary and deeply personal affront. At minimum, he expected fairness from people he respected.

The new docuseries, produced by 50 Cent, whose name is Curtis Jackson, and directed by Alexandria Stapleton, shows never-before-seen footage of Combs during his highly publicized federal trial this summer. It debuts on Netflix today (Dec 2). Combs is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence for two counts of transporting people for prostitution. He was acquitted on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.

The trailer for the mini series includes an intense scene of Combs and his lawyers at the Park Hyatt hotel room in New York City before the trial decision, where he urges them to come up with a solution, saying, “Y’all are not working together the right way. We’re losing.” There are also scenes of Combs meeting up with fans in Harlem and then afterwards saying he needs “hand sanitizer” or a “bath.”

“It was surprising that he actually filmed it,” 50 Cent told “GMA” co-host Robin Roberts of the footage he and director Stapleton obtained from Diddy.

Now, Diddy’s team is claiming the new series is “unfair and illegal,” and that “No rights in footage including filmed Diddy’s conversations with his lawyers “were ever transferred to Netflix or any third party.” According to them, Netflix CEO Sarandos was aware that Diddy had been filming himself since the age of 19 “to tell his own story,” and the footage is being misappropriated.

“If Netflix cared about truth or about Mr. Combs’s legal rights, it would not be ripping private footage out of context – including conversations with his lawyers that were never intended for public viewing,” Combs’ legal team wrote in a statement.

The statement also slammed 50 Cent, calling him Combs’ “longtime adversary.”

“It is equally staggering that Netflix handed creative control to Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson – a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr. Combs.”

Stapleton has addressed how Netflix obtained the footage.

“It came to us, we obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights,” she said. “We moved heaven and earth to keep the filmmaker’s identity confidential. One thing about Sean Combs is that he’s always filming himself, and it’s been an obsession throughout the decades. We also reached out to Sean Combs’ legal team for an interview and comment multiple times, but did not hear back.”