Sean “Diddy” Combs personal videographer told how he claims Netflix And 50 cents got behind-the-scenes footage of Combs for docuseries Sean Combs: Reckoningwhich reveals allegations against the rapper and his Bad Boy Entertainment empire.
Videographer Michael Oberlis claims the footage was posted by a freelancer who was hired to replace him while he was out of state for several days.
“We've been working on a project about Sean 'Diddy' Combs for over two years,” Oberlis said in an interview. statement to Rolling Stone. “The footage in question was not published by me or anyone authorized to process Sean Combs materials; it was a third party who covered for me for three days while I was out of state. This incident had nothing to do with a fee dispute or contract.
“The actions of the parties involved reflect the lack of integrity that every storyteller should uphold. Taking footage intended for our project to promote someone else's story is unethical and unacceptable.”
The footage Oberlis refers to shows footage of Combs in a New York City hotel room a few days earlier. his arrest in September 2024when he was indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, accusing him of beating and abusing women for more than a decade and running a sex crime empire.
Footage featured in the Netflix docuseries produced by 50 Cent features conversations with Combs' legal team about how to handle the case.
“We have to find somebody to work with us. Whether they're from this country or another country, it could be somebody who's doing the dirtiest of the dirtiest in media and propaganda,” Combs told his lawyer, Mark Agnifilo, by phone, before adding, “We're losing.”
In another scene, Combs meets fans in Harlem, where he later says he needs hand sanitizer because he “was outside among people.”
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“The number of people I actually come into contact with is what I need to do,” he said, asking people around him for hand sanitizer. “It’s time to cleanse myself, I need to go under the water, the water should be boiling, add some peroxide to it.”
The day before the docuseries' release on Netflix, a Combs spokesperson made a statementcalling it an “embarrassing hit”.
“Today's GMA (Good morning America) teaser confirms Netflix used stolen footage that was never authorized for release. As Netflix and CEO Ted Sarandos know, Mr. Combs has been collecting footage since he was 19 to tell his own story in his own way. It is fundamentally unfair and unlawful for Netflix to appropriate this work,” it said in a Dec. 1 statement.
A spokesman for Combs said Netflix was “clearly desperate to sensationalize every minute of Mr. Combs' life, with no regard for the truth, in order to profit from the never-ending media frenzy.”
“If Netflix cared about the truth or legal rights of Mr. Combs, it would not have taken private footage out of context, including conversations with his lawyers that were never intended for public viewing. No rights to this material were ever transferred to Netflix or any third party,” the statement said.
“No rights to this material have ever been transferred to Netflix or any third party,” the statement said. “Equally astonishing is that Netflix has handed creative control over to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time smearing Mr. Combs.”
In the statement courtesy of the official Netflix news site Tudum, Sean Combs: Reckoning Director Alexandria Stapleton said the behind-the-scenes footage “has gotten through to us.”
“We obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights. The thing about Sean Combs is that he always films himself, and that's been his obsession for decades,” Stapleton said.
She also stated that the documentary team “reached out to Sean Combs' legal team several times for interviews and comment but received no response.”
In the second statement before the deadline According to a Netflix spokesperson, the streamer clarified: “The footage of Combs leading up to his indictment and arrest was obtained legally. This is not a hit movie or an act of retaliation. Curtis Jackson serves as an executive producer but has no creative control. No one was paid to appear.”
50 Cent insisted that the docuseries is not part of a “personal vendetta” to take down Combs.
“I'm not doing this as some kind of personal mission. I'm telling a story that no one else is telling because I don't have the fear that others have of him. I'm not afraid at all,” he told us weekly in an interview Tuesday.
When asked how he obtained footage taken before Combs' arrest, 50 Cent responded, “A journalist would ask that, but a journalist would also say, 'I'll keep my sources safe.'
Combs is currently serving 50 months in prison after the New York jury found him guilty two counts of transportation for prostitution, while dropping the most serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
The 56-year-old disgraced hip-hop mogul was originally scheduled to be released from prison on May 8, 2028, but the date has now been pushed back to June 4, 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. online database.
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