Only two months after Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison with 12 months time served, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” brings his life and trial back to the headlines as a four-episode docuseries streaming on Netflix directed by Alexandria Stapleton and produced by 50 Cent. The documentary — which Combs is calling a “hit-piece” — details the musician’s ascent to financial and cultural power and the maelstrom of chaos that has followed him over the years. There have been over 100 civil lawsuits filed against him since 2023, and this new skewering documentary includes interviews with everyone from supportive jurors of his trial to alienated collaborators and old friends.
After Cassie’s lawsuit in November 2023, the floodgates opened to numerous other survivors and individuals who felt emboldened to come forward with their stories. “The Reckoning” paints an incriminating portrait that broadens the lens from his federal criminal trial by tracing his career from his years as a scrappy intern at Uptown Records, his founding of Bad Boy Records, through to accusations of his involvement in the deaths of Tupac and the circumstances around The Notorious B.I.G.’s shooting. The episodes continuously return to footage from September 2024, as he tries to rehabilitate his public image by barking at his legal team over the phone amid allegations.
Despite nearly hour-long episodes, there is a sense that this is the tip of the iceberg for the victims of Combs’ assaults and mistreatments. But what is here — including major interviews, never-before-seen footage, and retreading of court evidence — is presented sharply and carefully crafted into a cohesive, compelling narrative that is hard to look away from, even for skeptics who still believe Combs is free of culpability.
Check out the biggest revelations from the documentary below.
Joi Dickerson-Neal’s assault
Dickerson-Neal met Diddy in 1989 and worked with Uptown Records to promote music videos. She claims to have been drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs and sued him in November 2023. The assault was recorded and according to her, Combs showed the footage to multiple individuals.
Dickerson-Neal’s mother wrote a letter to Combs, seen in this docuseries, to ask him to stop showing the tape to others. Combs denied it when she confronted him. It was the last time she spoke with him. The case is still pending but Diddy continues to deny this occurred.
The 1991 City College Stampede’s impact on Combs’ rise to power
The documentary includes the 1991 college stampede, in which 5,000 people rushed the doors of a charity basketball game promoted by Combs, many of whom were unable to secure tickets. Nine people died in the incident and there were no criminal charges despite various conversations of culpability between the police and Combs himself.
Regardless, the event catapulted Combs’ career and visibility in the public eye, and the documentary frames it in a way that suggests he was able to get away with a horrific tragedy in which he played a key role. Kirk Burrowes, co-founder of Bad Boy Records, witnessed Combs hitting his mother not long after the incident.
Show suggests Diddy was involved in Tupac’s death
Episode 2 focuses mostly on the events leading up to the death of Tupac, teasing out the narrative that formed around his rivalry with Combs and the start of the East Coast-West Coast “war” with Bad Boy and Suge Knight’s Death Row Records in direct competition. Greg Kading, a former LAPD detective who worked on a task force to investigate Tupac’s murder, explains the evidence collected from a damning proffer testimony with Duane Keith “Keefe D” Davis, a member of the Crips who says the gang was offered $1 million for the death of Tupac and Knight (Knight survived the Las Vegas attack).
Combs denies ever actually hiring any Crips on his security team, but the picture being painted here is that there were allegiances formed around power — culminating with the cash offer. Keffe D is set to stand trial in 2026 for Tupac’s murder. Members of Combs’ entourage like Kirk Burrowes, co-founder of Bad Boy, also believe Combs is responsible.
Never-before-seen footage of Biggie’s shooting and Combs’ involvement
With rivalry tensions still high between the two coasts, Christopher Wallace, known as The Notorious B.I.G., and Combs attended the 1997 Soul Train Awards in Los Angeles. They did not receive a warm welcome in California, and Wallace was set to leave shortly after for his first ever European press tour to promote his second album “Life After Death.”
Burrowes had arranged the press tour and was told last minute by Combs that Wallace would not be going to Europe, despite his protests. Shortly after an after-party in lieu of his Europe trip, Wallace was shot. LAPD detective Kading says “[Combs] ushered Biggie to his death,” and that Combs was a hindrance to the investigation following the shooting, suggesting he did not want to open the door to questions about Tupac. Burrowes also claims he was asked by Combs to secretly alter Wallace’s contract to be more favorable to Bad Boy Records, which had been signed before their California trip — leading to his firing when he refused.
1999 violence and Combs’ ability to come out unscathed
The documentary briefly touches on Combs and his body guards’ attack of record executive Steven Stoute over a music video dispute, and his shooting of Natania Reuben at a nightclub, which both occurred in 1999. Combs settled with Stoute out of court and he was acquitted in his case with Reuben. At a few points, the documentary touches on how Combs’ entourage was frequently incarcerated and targets of violence, with Combs always emerging unscathed.
Aubrey O’Day’s experience in Danity Kane
Combs’ abuses of power were especially on display during “Making of the Band,” the ABC/MTV reality television which formed groups like O-Town, Danity Kane, Day 26. O’Day of Danity Kane is interviewed in the documentary, and details the emails she received from Combs with pictures of his penis and sexual propositions.
After she denied his advances, she was fired from the group in 2008. Later, when court filings against Combs became accessible, she read from a witness who stumbled on her being sexually assaulted by Combs and another man while being inebriated, an incident she does not recall.
The sex worker who was hired by Combs to have sex with Cassie
The doc presents Combs’ relationship with Cassie as a pattern of control from the beginning, with her contract including a 10-album deal. But it zooms in to a more specific series of encounters with Clayton Howard, a former sex worker hired by Combs in 2009 and contracted for 18–20 hours and paid $6,000 to have sex with Cassie in front of Combs.
This continued over 8 years, with the three staying up for multiple days on ecstasy and by using GHB-laced baby oil, going through as much as 10 bottles a day (Cassie and Combs both deny the baby oil detail). Howard witnessed multiple accounts of violence and controlling behavior.
Lil Rod’s work and relationship with Combs
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones caught Combs’ attention for breaking the code to producing Justin Bieber’s “Moments,” which scored him an invitation to Combs’ house in Miami to work on his new album, “The Love Album,” released in 2023. He provides the documentary with footage of his 13 months working with Combs — he says everything was being recorded at all times, and there were hidden cameras throughout the house.
Jones claims Combs showed him videos of a man getting anally penetrated and was asked to recruit sex workers at a club, all in the name of making a good album. Jones “faked the fun” to get to the end of the album — and the measly $29,000 he was offered in compensation has never been paid.
Kid Cudi’s near death experience
At Combs’ trial, former assistant Capricorn Clark testified that she had been kidnapped by gunpoint with the hopes of killing Kid Cudi after Combs found out he and Cassie were having an affair. The jury, one of whom is interviewed in the fourth episode, did not believe her story and painted her as overly emotional. In the docuseries, Clark maintains her version of the events, including witnessing Cassie being beaten by Combs, and details how the trial re-traumatized her to tell a story she wishes she had been able to move on from.
“Sean Combs: The Reckoning” is now streaming on Netflix.