Sean Combs: The Reckoning, a four-part documentary on Diddy from executive producer 50 Cent, has been released.
In addition to featuring remarks on the mogul’s split verdict from two jurors, the Alexandria Stapleton-directed doc pulls from one-on-one conversations with others who were in his orbit at key moments. One such individual is Tim Patterson, described in the doc as a childhood friend of Diddy’s.
“We experienced a lot of firsts together,” Patterson, who said his family once rented the first floor of the Combs house, told filmmakers.
As Patterson sees it, his household and Sean’s differed in that “in my household, my dad taught me right from wrong.” Sean, meanwhile, “didn’t have that.”
Patterson added that Janice Combs, mother to Diddy, whose father was fatally shot in 1972, meant “everything” to his friend. He also said that he spent significant time with Diddy and Janice both, including dancing at house parties (“Janice knew how to throw a party, and the parties was packed”) and riding around in her Cadillac.
“All of this stuff, he’s taking in,” Patterson said, later describing Diddy as a “goofy” kid who was picked on a lot.
“He didn’t know how to defend himself,” he said. “Sean was a prince, and Janice, she didn’t want no princess.”
The filmmakers then turn our attention to a clip from a 2010 Inside the Actors Studio episode, during which Janice, from the audience, joked about Diddy having received “a lot of beatings” as a child.
But Patterson paints a more somber picture, saying he was “scared” by these alleged incidents.
“His beatings made me scared, right?” he 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.”
Noted in the doc is that reps for Janice Combs did not respond to a request for comment on these claims.
Deeper into the first episode, titled “Pain vs Love,” Kirk Burrowes, credited as a Bad Boy Entertainment co-founder, recalled an alleged incident later in Diddy’s life in which he’s claimed to have “slapped” Janice. At the time, per Burrowes, Diddy was “holed up in a hotel” with his mother after a 1991 basketball event he promoted ended with a fatal stampede.
“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, it’s noted in the doc that reps did not respond to a request for comment from the filmmakers.
Just before The Reckoning’s Netflix release, a spokesperson for Diddy shared a statement criticizing the production as a “hit piece.” Reps have also alleged that certain footage used in the four-part series, namely video of Diddy in New York mere days before his 2024 arrest and subsequent trial, was included without approval.
“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.”
When reached for comment by Complex on Tuesday (Dec. 2), a spokesperson reiterated criticism of the documentary.
“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 following his conviction on two Mann Act violations. While appeal efforts are underway, he’s currently expected to be released in 2028.