50 Cent has shared the real reason behind his decision to executive-produce the new Netflix documentary about Sean “Diddy” Combs. The series, which delves into the embattled music mogul’s downfall, arrives at a time when Combs is serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
The four-part documentary, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, directed by Alexandria Stapleton, debuted on Tuesday. In an interview with GQ, 50 Cent, whose legal name is Curtis Jackson, discussed what pushed him to tell this story while Combs’ case continued to unfold.
“To be honest, just the culture itself,” he said. “If someone’s not saying something, then you would assume that everybody in hip-hop is okay with what’s going on because (other rappers) will say, ‘I ain’t going to say nothing. I’m going to mind my business,’ because of a position that (Combs) held in culture for so long, you understand? So (that) would leave me.”
50 Cent continued, noting the responsibility he felt as others stayed silent. “Without me saying that I will do it, there’s nobody there.”
Director Alexandria Stapleton revealed that she “immediately” started developing the documentary shortly after Combs’ former partner, Cassie Ventura, filed a lawsuit in November 2023 accusing him of rape, repeated physical abuse, sex trafficking, and coercion. The lawsuit was settled a day later, and Ventura later testified she was paid $20 million (£15 million).
“50 was (already) putting something together,” Stapleton said. She explained that she had hoped to speak with Ventura, but the rapid pace of events made that impossible. “It was such a wild 24 hours, with her dropping her lawsuit and then settling.”
She added that soon after the settlement, she and Jackson began discussing how to shape the documentary.
“I think for both of us, even though we’re two very different people, we both understand that… it’s not black or white,” she explained. “It’s all of the things that actually make for a great story, and I think that we both knew that we wanted to make something to preserve our culture, preserve hip-hop, while still telling the journey of this man, but while also allowing people that have been silenced for so long, to have a platform to share their truths, and I think that then we were off to the races.”
Their comments follow Combs’ reaction to the project, which he dismissed as a “shameless hit piece” by “a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta” against him.
Though he has consistently maintained his innocence, Combs was convicted of transportation for prostitution in July but was acquitted of the more serious allegations, including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
