NEED TO KNOW
- Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mother, Janice Combs, has publicly responded to the new Netflix docuseries about her son
- Janice claims that the series contains “lies” and “inaccuracies” about Sean and his upbringing
- The series, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, dropped on Netflix on Dec. 2
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mother, Janice Combs, is sharing her thoughts on the new Netflix docuseries about her son.
In a statement to Deadline published on Saturday, Dec. 6, Janice said the four-part series, which was released on the streamer on Dec. 2, contains “lies” and “inaccuracies” about Sean’s life.
“I am writing this statement to correct some of the lies presented in the Netflix, Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” she wrote. “These inaccuracies regarding my son Sean’s upbringing and family life is intentionally done to mislead viewers and further harm our reputation.”
She went on to specifically cite an interview from the first episode of the series that explores a 1991 incident in which nine people died during a stampede at a charity basketball game promoted by Sean at the City College of New York. In the interview, Sean’s former friend and colleague, Kirk Burrowes, claimed that he saw the singer slap Janice that day — something which she denies.
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“The allegations stated by Mr. Kirk Burrows [sic] that my son slapped me while we were conversing after the tragic City College events on December 28, 1991, are inaccurate and patently false,” Janice said in her statement to Deadline. “That was a very sad day for all of us … For him to use this tragedy and incorporate fake narratives to further his prior failed and current attempt to gain what was never his — Bad Boy Records — is wrong, outrageous and past offensive.”
“I am requesting that these distortions, falsehoods and misleading statements be publicly retracted,” she said later in her statement.
During the moment in question in the episode, Burrowes says, “I saw Janice question Sean [about his future]. 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?’ And I saw him put his hands on her. Call her a bitch and slapped her.”
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In the docuseries, a title card states that Sean, 56, did not respond to the filmmakers’ request for comment on the accusation that he physically harmed his mother.
The docuseries comes in the wake of the disgraced music mogul’s federal convictions on two prostitution-related charges, for which he is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence handed down in October. Sean is also facing dozens of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault.
One day before the docuseries’ release, Sean’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, called the project a “shameful hit piece” in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, claiming that “Netflix relied on stolen footage that was never authorized for release.”
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“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. It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work,” the spokesperson said.
“For Netflix to give his life story to someone who has publicly attacked him for decades feels like an unnecessary and deeply personal affront,” Engelmayer added, referencing longtime rival Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s role as a producer of the docuseries.
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When asked specifically about the allegations that Sean slapped his mother, Engelmayer said: “We’re not going to comment on individual claims being repeated in the documentary. Many of the people featured have longstanding personal grievances, financial motives, or credibility issues that have been documented for years.”
Engelmayer continued: “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.”
PEOPLE reached out to Netflix for comment on Sunday, Dec. 7, but did not receive an immediate response.
Read the full article here


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