Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers send cease-and-desist to Netflix, claim docuseries produced by 50 Cent uses ‘stolen’ footage

Sean "Diddy" Combs speaks at the end of a panel about threats to democracy at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's annual legislative conference, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in Washington.

On the eve of Netflix releasing a highly anticipated docuseries about Sean “Diddy” Combs — produced by his longtime foe Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson — the embattled mogul’s lawyers have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the streaming giant, demanding it not release “Sean Combs: The Reckoning.”

In a statement provided to CNN, a spokesperson for Combs also accused Netflix of using “stolen footage that was never authorized for release” in what they called a “shameful hit piece.”

The footage that Combs’ representative is referring to is shown in Netflix’s official trailer for the project, which was released on Monday morning.

“We need to find someone who will work with us who has worked in the dirtiest of dirty businesses,” Combs says in the one-minute trailer. “We are losing.”

Combs spokesperson Juda Engelmayer told CNN that Combs has been continuously filming himself for decades in an effort to chronicle his life for an eventual documentary. Engelmayer explained that the footage seen in Netflix’s trailer, which was filmed six days before Combs’ September 2024 arrest, was part of that documentary effort.

“Sean was making his own documentary since he was 19 years old. This footage was commissioned as part of it,” Engelmayer told CNN on Monday via email.

Engelmayer told CNN that neither Combs, who is serving a four-year sentence after a jury delivered a mixed verdict in his federal trial, nor his team has seen the Netflix docuseries in advance.

“We will see it tonight. Neither Netflix, nor Mr. Jackson were kind enough to offer us a screener,” Engelmayer said.

In response to CNN’s request for comment, a spokesperson for Netflix referred CNN to a statement from the docuseries’ director, Alexandra Stapleton, who said the filmmaking team obtained the footage legally.

“It came to us, We obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights,” Stapleton 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.”

In their cease-and-desist letter, attorneys for Combs threaten to take further legal action, writing on Monday, “As you are undoubtedly aware, Mr. Combs has not hesitated to take legal action against media entities and others who violate his rights, and he will not hesitate to do so against Netflix.”

Combs previously filed a $100 million defamation suit against NBCUniversal for a documentary on Combs that it aired on Peacock, “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.”

In Combs’ statement regarding the overall documentary, his team said Netflix and its CEO, Ted Sarandos, were aware that Combs “has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story, in his own way” and say “it is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work.”

The statement added that it was “equally staggering” that the company worked with Jackson for the documentary as he is “a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr. Combs.”

CNN has reached out to a representative for Jackson for comment.

Jackson, meanwhile, continues to poke fun and take aim at Combs on social media, posting frequently on Monday about Combs on his Instagram.

Combs was sentenced to 50 months (roughly four years) this summer by a judge after a two-month trial ended with him being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs was acquitted by a jury of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, for which he was facing decades and possibly life in prison if convicted.

He had been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest. In late October, Combs was transferred to Fort Dix, a low-security federal prison in New Jersey.

Combs is appealing his conviction and sentence.

His defense previously told CNN that they had approached President Donald Trump’s administration about a potential pardon.

Combs is also facing roughly 70 civil lawsuits where most of the dozens of accusers — some of whom were minors at the time of the alleged incidents — claim they were drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs.

Combs has denied all of the civil claims. Some of the lawsuits have been dismissed.

By Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN