Netflix Facing Legal Trouble Over Top Ten Hit Series?
Since debuting on Netflix on December 2, Sean Combs: The Reckoning has managed to become a smash hit for the streamer. It’s consistently ranking in Netflix’s top 10 shows, even with series like Stranger Things and Emily in Paris debuting new seasons, and it has been the topic of many conversations across social media channels. However, is this ratings win for Netflix going to actually wind up costing them?
Sean Combs: The Reckoning focuses on the now-imprisoned Combs’ rise to becoming a media mogul and the controversies that plagued his career. Each of the four episodes sees his former business associates making shocking allegations against him, painting the Bad Boy Records founder in the darkest of lights. It’s the negative attention that he’s garnered that has him and his legal team up in arms, especially when it comes to video clips that Combs was responsible for creating.
Why Is Diddy Upset with Netflix?
According to Deadline, a spokesperson for Combs shared, “Sean Combs and his team are still pondering their legal options over the Netflix docuseries and the stolen footage.” The footage in question shows Diddy days before his arrest, complaining about his tarnished reputation in the court of public opinion.
It should be noted that Sean Combs: The Reckoning director Alexandria Stapleton has consistently maintained that the footage was attained “legally” and he had “the necessary rights” to it.
Should Combs and his team ultimately proceed with a lawsuit, it wouldn’t be the first time the “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper has gone after a big studio over a documentary made about him. Back in February 2025, the Combs legal team filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal for the claims made in Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy. Combs and his team were particularly unhappy with what they felt were false allegations of “serial murder, sexual assault and sex trafficking.”
For now, with Combs serving a 50-month prison sentence and his legal team not having filed official paperwork with the courts, Netflix is in the clear on this front.
Other documentaries about Sean Combs
Here are a few other Combs-related documentaries.