Sean Combs: The Reckoning, a four-part documentary about Diddy produced by 50 Cent, has officially been released.
The Alexandria Stapleton–directed series features commentary from two jurors involved in the mogul’s split verdict, as well as intimate conversations with people who were close to him at different points in his life. One of them is Tim Patterson, introduced in the doc as a childhood friend of Diddy’s.
“We experienced a lot of firsts together,” Patterson said, noting that his family once rented the first floor of the Combs’ home.
According to Patterson, his upbringing differed from Sean Combs’ in one key way — “in my household, my dad taught me right from wrong.” As for Sean, Patterson said, “he didn’t have that.”
He described Janice Combs, Diddy’s mother, whose husband was fatally shot in 1972, as meaning “everything” to her son. Patterson said he spent a lot of time with both Sean and Janice, from dancing at house parties (“Janice knew how to throw a party, and the parties was packed”) to cruising around town in her Cadillac.
“All of this stuff, he’s taking in,” Patterson said, remembering young Diddy as a “goofy” kid who was often picked on.
“He didn’t know how to defend himself,” he added. “Sean was a prince, and Janice, she didn’t want no princess.”
The documentary cuts to a clip from a 2010 Inside the Actors Studio episode, where Janice jokingly mentioned that Diddy got “a lot of beatings” growing up.
But Patterson’s recollection was far more serious. He said those alleged beatings terrified him.
“His beatings made me scared, right?” Patterson said. “I got beatings now, but when he got his beatings, it wasn’t a joking thing. Nah. Damn, I hate thinking about that, man.”
The documentary notes that representatives for Janice Combs did not respond to requests for comment.
Later in the first episode, “Pain vs Love,” Bad Boy Entertainment co-founder Kirk Burrowes recalled an alleged moment from Diddy’s adulthood in which he claimed Diddy “slapped” Janice. Burrowes said the incident happened while Diddy was “holed up in a hotel” with his mother following a fatal stampede at a 1991 basketball event he promoted.
“He didn’t know what was going to happen,” Burrowes said. “I saw Janice question Sean. He’s going into this music business thing, he just left school, and now this extreme tragedy has occurred. She’s like, did he make the right decision? I saw him put his hands on her, call her ‘bitch,’ and slapped her. He’s not looking back.”
Again, the doc notes that reps did not respond to requests for comment.
Ahead of The Reckoning’s Netflix debut, a spokesperson for Diddy issued a statement condemning the series as a “hit piece.” His team also claimed that certain footage in the doc — including video of Diddy shot in New York just days before his 2024 arrest and trial — was used without permission.
“As Netflix and CEO Ted Sarandos know, Mr. Combs has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story, in his own way,” the spokesperson said on Monday (Dec. 1). “It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work.”
The spokesperson also doubled down on their criticism of the project.
“We’re not going to comment on individual claims being repeated in the documentary,” the spokesperson said. “Many of the people featured have longstanding personal grievances, financial motives, or credibility issues that have been documented for years. Several of these stories have already been addressed in court filings, and others were never raised in any legal forum because they’re simply not true.”
The spokesperson continued: “The project was built around a one-sided narrative led by a publicly admitted adversary, and it repeats allegations without context, evidence, or verification. Sean Combs will continue to address legitimate matters through the legal process, not through a biased Netflix production.”
Diddy, 56, is currently serving a 50-month sentence at Fort Dix in New Jersey after being convicted on two Mann Act violations. While he is actively pursuing an appeal, he is currently projected to be released in 2028.
