A new documentary produced by rapper and filmmaker 50 Cent, detailing the rise and fall of Sean “Diddy” Combs, premiered on Netflix on Tuesday, featuring fresh allegations, unseen archival material, and interviews with former insiders.
The second episode of the multi-part series, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” released on December 2, includes accounts from former Bad Boy Records staff and artistes who revisit long-standing controversies surrounding the deaths of rappers Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. In their recollections, they suggest that Combs had a notable influence on events connected to both cases.
The documentary also features testimony from rapper Mark Curry, Craig Mack’s former wife Roxanne Johnson, and Bad Boy Records cofounder Kirk Burrowes. Their interviews allege that Combs exploited artistes under the label and contributed to the East-West hip-hop tensions that shaped the industry in the 1990s.
“I think Sean had an envy for his own artistes, he was jealous of their talent,” Burrowes said.
One interviewee alleged that Combs pressured him into surrendering his 25% stake in the record label they cofounded, claiming the threat was made while Combs held a baseball bat.
The episode also explores the intensifying rivalry between Combs’ Bad Boy Records and Suge Knight’s Death Row Records on the West Coast.
At the time, Death Row featured artistes such as Dr. Dre and later Tupac Shakur, while Bad Boy represented Biggie Smalls, Faith Evans, 112, and Mase.
According to those interviewed, the feud was not primarily driven by the artistes themselves but escalated when executives—including Combs—heightened tensions between the camps.
Responding to the allegations, Combs’ representatives told USA TODAY that “Netflix’s so-called ‘documentary’ is a shameful hit piece.”
“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 project was built around a one-sided narrative led by a publicly admitted adversary, and it repeats allegations without context, evidence, or verification,” he added
Engelmayer added, “Sean Combs will continue to address legitimate matters through the legal process, not through a biased Netflix production.”
Diddy, Suge Knight label war turned into deadly turf war
The label war eventually bled into a gang war, the documentary argued, with the Crips on the side of Bad Boy and Biggie, and the Bloods on the side of Knight and Death Row.
Combs was at the centre of it all, the documentary alleged, connecting to drug boss Duane “Keffe D” Davis through Eric Von Zip.
Davis is currently awaiting trial for the killing of Shakur.
Von Zip, who Combs claimed was his uncle, loomed large in the New York gang scene.
In recordings accompanied by commentary from former Los Angeles Police Department detective Greg Krading, Davis was allegedly heard recounting how he and his nephew, Orlando Anderson, pulled off the 1996 Las Vegas shooting of Shakur.
Davis alleged that Combs had agreed to pay him and other gang members to do away with Shakur and Knight, who was in the car the night of the shooting.
The money never materialised, he alleged, in part because Knight wasn’t killed and because it was funnelled through Von Zip, who has since died.
“I think that Sean, now in my mature mind, had a lot to do with the death of Tupac,” Burrowes said.
He claimed that following the shooting, the Bad Boys crew knew it was dangerous to be in Los Angeles but that Combs pushed them to go anyway.
He said Diddy urged Biggie Smalls, real name Christopher Wallace, to go to LA for promotion for his album against the rapper’s wishes.
Wallace was shot and killed during that trip in 1997.
“He ushered Biggie to his death,” Burrowes argued, claiming in later years that Combs lied about the artiste’s desire to be in Los Angeles, alleging it was Biggie’s idea and not his own.
In September, USA TODAY uncovered court files in which Davis, a former LA gangbanger, claimed that Combs put a $1 million bounty on the heads of Shakur and Knight.
Combs denied the allegations.
Burrowes also alleged that in the aftermath of Wallace’s death, Combs threw a massive funeral but made the charges recuperable to the rapper in death, so Wallace was essentially paying post-mortem for his own funeral.
Burrowes was later fired, he said, for refusing to change the terms of Biggie’s contract after his death to be more favourable to Bad Boy.
Archival footage of Wallace’s mother, Voletta Wallace, shows her casting blame on the rap war at the centre of the shooting.
“All it was was a Puffy and Suge Knight war,” she said.
Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, has been implicated in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. According to new court documents obtained by the U.S. Sun, the Bad Boy Records boss is accused of paying $1 million for Shakur’s assassination. The suspect, Duane “Keefe D” Davis, who was arrested last year for the murder, claims that Combs financed the killing.
The court documents, filed on Thursday (July 18), mention Diddy 77 times under various pseudonyms, including Puffy, Puff Daddy, Puff, and his legal name, Sean Combs.
They highlighted a statement from Davis suggesting that Sean Combs paid Eric Von Martin a million dollars for the assassination.
In a transcript, Davis testified about Diddy’s involvement, indicating that Combs expressed his willingness to pay for the death of Suge Knight, whom he feared, and had issues with Shakur due to a diss track.
Prosecutors presented these documents to oppose Davis’ latest bail request, which was rejected last month over concerns about the source of the $112,500 bail bond. It remains unclear if Diddy will be subpoenaed or indicted in connection with the case.
