9 Shocking P. Diddy Revelations Exposed in New Netflix Doc

Well, as you may know, rapper 50 Cent. has been teasing a documentary about his. purported rival Shawn Diddy Combmes for. more than a year. But now, the four-part. docue series has finally premiered on. Netflix. The series explores Comb's life. from his upbringing, the creation of Bad. Boy Entertainment to all of the. allegations of assault and sexual. [music] abuse since the 1990s. And it. also investigates his alleged connection. to the deaths of iconic rappers Biggie. [music] Smalls and Tupac Shakur, featuring insights from those close to. him, witnesses from his racketeering and.

sex trafficking trial, and jurors who. heard weeks [music] of testimony. So, we're not only going to dig into some of. the biggest moments from this series, but also what [music] Comb's legal team. is doing because they are pushing back. quite hard against the whole project. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Right now, Shawn Diddy Combmes is locked. up in a New Jersey prison cell serving a. 4-year sentence after he was convicted. on two counts of transportation to. engage in prostitution during his very.

high-profile federal trial earlier this. year. A jury acquitted him of the top. charges in the indictment, conspiracy to. engage in racketeering, as well as two. counts of sex trafficking. Now, the. allegations against Combmes, they have. dominated the headlines since November. of 2023. That's when his ex Cassandra. Ventura Fine filed a multi-million. dollar lawsuit against the music mogul, claiming he abused her during their. 10-year relationship. And since then, he's not only faced this criminal trial, but also dozens of civil lawsuits that.

were filed on behalf of alleged victims. And many of the lawsuits include claims. of sexual misconduct and rape and more. But to be clear, Combmes and his legal. team, they have adamantly denied any and. all accusations of wrongdoing. Since. Comb's arrest at the Parkhide Hotel in. Manhattan in September of 2024, there. have been several documentaries that. have been released about the rapper's. rise to the top of the music industry. There have been shows about his trial, but one of the most anticipated. retrospectives is from a reportedly.

yearslong rival of Combmes rapper Curtis. Jackson, better known as 50 Cent. He is. the executive producer of this project, initially teasing it with the title did. he do it? But the series was retitled. Shawn Combmes: The Reckoning. It was. released on Netflix on December 2nd, and. it has skyrocketed to the top of the. charts. In fact, 50 Cent posted on his. Instagram on Wednesday, number one on. Netflix, you know, if you really like. this docu series, I'll make more. Lol. Now, the documentary's director, Alexander Stapleton, said in a statement.

to Billboard, quote, "This isn't just. about the story of Shawn Combmes or the. story of Cassie or the story of any of. the victims or the allegations against. him or the trial. Ultimately, this story. is a mirror reflecting us as the public. and what we are saying when we put our. celebrities on such a high pedestal. I. hope this documentary is a wake-up call. for how we idolize people and to. understand that everybody is a human. being. Okay, but here's the thing. Just. one day before the series was set to. air, Comb's attorneys sent a cease and. desist letter to the streaming giant.

calling the documentary essentially a. hit piece demanding it be removed. Now, we're going to take a closer look at. that letter, the arguments that Comb's. team is making for all of this to be. taken down. But first, I want to talk. about some of the biggest, maybe most. shocking moments from the series, and. then we'll get to the CND letter. So, to. do all that, I want to welcome back on. Elizabeth Vui, legal counsel here at Law. and Crime, uh, who knows a thing or two. about the inner workings of the media. and when things are brought in. But you. also watched the entire show. Um,

Elizabeth, it's good to see you. Thanks. for taking the time. Now, you watched. all of it. What was your main takeaway. from the series as somebody who actively. followed the Diddy criminal case, has. been here on Sidebar talking about the. case, talking about his civil cases uh. that he's facing. What was your main. takeaway? >> Yeah, there were a couple of takeaways. I think it was um a really sort of. original documentary, well put together. There were four episodes, usually u most. of them around an hour long, so it's. very thorough. I think the two key. takeaways were one, everybody's talking. about access to this footage and where.

it came from. Um, you know, one of the. things that I think Diddy had done was. he had said he'd hired a videographer. He's someone who films himself, you. know, as we've come to know for most of. his career and life. So, he had hired. this videographer to kind of follow him. through this process. I'm not sure if. the thinking was, you know, he thought. that he might evade the charges and come. out with his own documentary afterwards. Um, but just the access of footage that. we get, we hear him speaking to his. legal team. um you it's very rare you.

get an insight into that because again. that's usually covered under attorney. client privilege. Um so speaking to his. legal team kind of his own thoughts. about what was going on because also. remember at this point we really hadn't. heard didd he talk much about this. You. know he had issued an apology over that. video of him and Cassandra Ventur in. that hotel hallway months before. Um but. he hadn't really given any interviews to. the media. He hadn't spoken about it. probably on advice of his attorneys. So. getting access to that kind of. information was really something that we. had never seen before. It's what a lot. of people are talking about. And I think.

the other thing that struck me was just. how indepth it went. You know, there's. been a lot of documentaries and coverage. on the Diddy case. People are covering. the allegations, him and Cassandra. Ventura, but you know, one of the. episodes goes into his history with. Biggie and Tupac and insinuations there. and kind of going a little bit deeper. into his upbringing and his career, a. little bit further beyond what a lot of. other people have covered. By the way, yeah, we're talking cease and desist. letter here, potential legal action, maybe financial repercussions. You might. not relate to all this. Let me tell you.

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by the way, found out that my voice and. Elizabeth Milner's voice, Queen. Elizabeth, uh were both in the. documentary, I think in like episode 4. when it was going into the trial uh or. in his arrest. Um you know, it was. interesting. I'll talk more. Um, I am. curious about what you think of that. footage and we'll talk about how it. factors into the cease and desist. letter. First of all, no attorney client. privilege because if he is actively. deliberately, knowingly recording that. the privilege, anything that he says to. his attorney, that's waved. Right.

>> Correct. So, that was one of the first. thoughts I had is he, you know, he's. speaking to Marko who's the lead. attorney on his legal team. They're. talking about, you know, overall case. strategy, the indictment that they. expect to come down. My first thought. was, you know, this, we've never seen. this before. This must be privilege. But. again, you forget there's a videographer. in the room. So, when you think about. attorney client communications, yes, that's usually covered under privilege. But if you have a third party that. you're inviting into those. communications, that's not necessary, you know, unless the person is an.

interpreter or maybe an accountant. Um, if you have a videographer that's there. not for legal reasons, you can make that. argument that, you know, the privilege. is waved. And and by the way, that. conversation, the actual context of it, it's something that we always were. thinking was going on behind the scenes. There was a sense of frustration about. how the media and social media was. portraying Diddy and the narrative. And. he was like, "We're losing." And he was. getting a bit combative with Mark Agno. about what was going on. And he's like, "Look, I did everything. You said I'm. like a basically an ideal client, a star. client. I did everything you want. I.

came to New York." And like he was just. waiting to see if he would be arrested. and indicted. And that was like a bit of. tension there, which I'm It's a rare. behindthescenes glimpse of what those. conversations and what those moments are. between an accused and their uh defense. attorney before the hammer drops. >> Yes. Very rare. And that's I think one. of the things that struck me and what a. lot of people are talking about. Again, you don't usually get a window into. that. Um I think the push and pull was. you know in one of in the conversation.

Mark Nifolo had said, "Look, an. indictment hasn't been dropped yet." The. indictment came down September 16th of. last year. So, and Mark INFO had said. it's midepptember at that point. So, I. think the indictment was really just. about to drop. So, at that point, you. have Diddy who, you know, he said, "Look, I've come to New York. I've. basically surrendered. You know, his. legal team is taking the position. You. have to cooperate and kind of show that. you're here ready to take this head on.". But then Diddy's sort of saying, you. know, we need to get someone out there. on the comm's front, somebody who's, in. his words, has dealt with the dirty side.

of media propaganda. So, I think what. Diddy was trying to say was, you know, there's no there's nothing to be done. legally on the criminal front because no. indictment had been dropped yet. But in. the court of public opinion, it seemed. like he wanted to take a more aggressive. approach to put a certain message out. there. And his attorney seemed to kind. of think the opposite. >> And just to be clear, so the documentary. begins with this shot of Combmes in his. hotel room in New York. This is, I. believe, just 6 days before his arrest. last year. Turns out Combmes had hired. this videographer to film him while he's. in New York. The documentaries producers.

got their hands on this footage and he's. talking on speakerphone with Mark Ignol, this high-powered attorney who is, by. the way, just one of several lawyers he. would have on his multi-person legal. team, and says that more needs to be. done to help his public image, that it. appeared to him like they were losing. And remember, again, this is before he. was officially indicted and arrested. Now, apparently, he knew it was coming. He'd been under investigation for months. at this point. In a statement to NBC. News, Combmes publicist Judah Angelmeer. said, quote, "The footage was created.

for an entirely different purpose under. an arrangement that was never completed, and no rights were ever transferred to. Netflix. A payment dispute between. outside parties does not create. permission for Netflix to use unlicensed. private material. None of this footage. came from Mr. Combmes or his team and. its inclusion raises serious questions. about how it was obtained and why. Netflix chose to use it. Now, Elizabeth, we're going to talk more about what. Combmes legal team has to say in this c.

season cease and desist letter, but. what's your reaction to that? >> Yeah, it's hard to say because there's. still such a big question mark in the. air because, you know, Curtis Jackson. aka 50 Cent is one of the executive. producers on the series. him. The. director Netflix in general is not. saying where they got this footage, only. that it was obtained legally. Diddy side. is saying this is coming from a. videographer I hired. I know we'll get. into the cease and desist. One of the. arguments they make is, you know, this. is subject to NDAs or agreements that. the videographer had signed with Diddy. because he was, you know, employed by.

Diddy. Um, and therefore the footage. belongs to Diddy. That's the argument. that they're making. Um, so it's. difficult to say because Netflix is not. really saying how or where they got this. footage from. One of the things that. they did say was that it was sent to. them legally. So, you know, if you have. the videographer sending the footage to. them physically, that would be fine, but. it does leave a question mark about. where the legal rights are coming from. The only really avenue I see is if. there's some way that the videographer. had obtained a license for the footage, then the videographer would have the.

ability to take that license and then. transfer the footage over to Netflix. But if the footage belongs to Diddy, then that's a little bit tough. That's a. good point. Okay, let's keep that in. mind. We'll talk about that in a minute. I do want to talk about the content uh. of the series. So, the series featured. interviews with many people who were at. one point in Comb's inner circle. This. includes Aubrey Oday, who was a member. of the girl group Danny Kaine, which was. created on Comb's MTV show, Making the. Band. She has since accused Combmes of. basically grooming her, firing her for.

refusing to give in to his alleged. sexual advances. We have Albi Shore, singer, songwriter, former record. executive, dated Kim Porter before she. was in a relationship with Combmes. There's Roger Bonds, one of Combmes's. apparent former bodyguards, who's gone. on the record to say that he knew. Combmes was allegedly physically violent. with his then girlfriend Cassie. At one. point in his interview with the. documentaries producers, he said of. Combmes, "When I first met him, I liked. him as a person because I didn't know. him." Hm. You have Kina Harper, who is.

part of Combmes group Diddy Dirty Money, released a statement supporting him. after the third member of that group, Don Rashard, had filed a lawsuit against. Combmes. And in the documentary, Combmes. can be heard calling Harper to complain. about the lawsuit, asking her to put out. a statement. A former friend, business. partner of Combmes, who appears. throughout the documentary is Kirk. Burroughs, the co-founder of Bad Boy. Records. The two apparently worked very. closely together for years. Burroughs. served as the general manager handling. the rapidly growing company's funds. And. according to Burroughs, when they. started Bad Boy, Burroughs was given a.

25% stake in the company with the other. 75% being in Comb's mother's name, Janice Comb's name. And we're going to. get more into why Burroughs alleges it. was set up that way in just a second. But according to Burroughs, Combmes. allegedly threatened him in 1996 with a. baseball bat, forcing him to sign over. his stake. So Burroughs apparently sued. in 2003. The lawsuit was thrown out. because too much time had passed since. the alleged incident. And more recently, Burroughs sued Janice Combmes for fraud.

Combmes himself for sexual harassment. This is according to a report from. Cineaholic. And those appear to be. ongoing, by the way. Now, Burroughs. claims that he was blacklisted from the. entertainment industry, led to periods. of homelessness. He since re-entered the. music industry, starting Pop Life. Entertainment in 2018. This is also per. Cinemaholic. So, Elizabeth, there's a. lot here, but what did you make of the. Burrow's part where he was proving, you. know, I I I this kind of relationship. that he had and that he was coerced into. giving up his stake in what would become.

a multi-million dollar company. I mean, I guess the allegation is basically that. Diddy ruined his life. >> Yeah, that that was a really there are a. lot of difficult moments in the. documentary. I I watched um all four. episodes as mentioned and that was a. tough one and again information that we. hadn't really seen before in prior. documentaries. So, you know, this is. someone who had co-founded Bad Boy. Entertainment with him. A lot of the. things he was saying seemed to kind of. run along the theme that I think. prosecutors were trying to push in the. actual case was that in the prosecutor's. view, this is somebody who will do.

anything to basically get what he wants. He doesn't really care what effects or. damage that causes to other people. And. it's in different ways, right? whether. it's in the context of alleged abuse, business disputes, um you know, alleged. sexual assaults, things that have been. alleged in the civil lawsuits against. him. And I think with Burroughs, it was. really um you know, kind of seemed to. strike that theme as well because he's. saying um you know, he had forced me out. of the stake of my company. You know, he. had to deal with things like.

homelessness while in the 2000s and. 2010s, Diddy was really prospering um. you know, music, business, fashion. And. um one of the things that he had said, what he alleged in the documentary, and. again this is an allegation from him, was that um the name Bad Boy. Entertainment, you know, Combmes's name. was not really involved in that on the. corporate side. And one of the things. he's saying is the reason for that was. to avoid having to pay any liability. from, you know, the the devastating. basketball game that had happened in the. early 90s. um you know where he was the.

subject of wrongful death lawsuits. because of the um multiple deaths that. had occurred as a result of that. basketball game that Diddy was behind. organizing. So that was really you know. surprising to hear. >> Yeah, that was a big uh allegation. You. because the families of the victims. killed in that that stampede um it was. horrible. We're talking about December. 28th, 1991. Combmes, fellow rapper Heavy. D, they hosted this charity basketball. game. The game took place at the. gymnasium of the City College of New. York. And according to the New York. Daily News, before the basketball game.

started, people who weren't let inside, they broke a window, swarmed toward the. entrance of the gym, all went down a. staircase. The doors at the bottom of. those stairs opened towards the stairs, not towards the gym. So once a crowd got. down there, they couldn't get the doors. open, and people started being crushed. Nine people died. Dozens of others were. injured. And there were no criminal. charges that were ever filed against. anyone for the stampede, but multiple. families and injured victims, they filed. lawsuits. And that's just one part, right? So I actually wanted to get into. this too. The docue series devoted a lot.

of time to the killings of Tupac Shakur. and Biggie Smalls and Comb's alleged. connections to this to both men. Obviously knew both of them. So there. have been accusations made in the past. that Comb's involvement in the East. Coast West Coast rap feud of the '90s, there was more than just talk that it. could have involved things like hit. orders. Now to be clear, these are. allegations. There's no evidence to. suggest this. This series though it. emphasizes that he has never been. investigated or charged regarding their. assassinations. Nevertheless, several.

interviewees during this documentary. expressed that Comb's actions seem. suspicious in hindsight. The documentary. plays part of an interview that Dwayne. Kei D. Davis did with investigators. looking into Tupac's murder, which had. become a cold case. And on the tapes, Kefi D says that Commes agreed to pay. him if he killed Tupac and also rival. record label head Suge Knight. Now, Davis allegedly admitted that his. nephew, Orlando Anderson, was the one. who shot the men, killing Tupac, injuring Knight. But Davis says Combmes. never came through with any payment. And.

by the way, Davis is currently awaiting. trial for Tupac's murder in Las Vegas. Combmes has always denied any. involvement in the assassination. That. was a big moment, I would say. Elizabeth, that was a big part of this. I didn't know that was going to be a. part of this documentary. >> I was really surprised as well. Um, so I. believe it's the second episode that. dedicates a lot of time to it, and like. you said, there have been insinuations. in the past. They played video clips of. um you know Shan Colmes being asked in. prior interviews in the 90s and 2000s, do you know you know who killed these. men? Did you have any involvement? He's.

always denied it to be clear. These are. just allegations. But yeah, that was. really really shocking. And one of the. um one of the sort of a little bit more. of the backstory behind um his alleged. involvement uh with Tupac was that um a. lot of the interviewees in the. documentary were saying that Biggie who. uh was signed with Bad Boy and who was. really close with Diddy at the time was. starting to form a friendship with Tupac. and they were getting really close and a. lot of the interviewees were saying in. their view didn't Diddy didn't really. appreciate that. So, I think the a lot. of the themes that you see again is.

coming up is him sort of wanting and. needing to be the number one person um. in people's lives, whether it was. personal business. And it's really. interesting because you see a lot of the. themes that again the prosecution was. trying to push forward um that we saw in. his personal life with Cassandra Ventur. always needing to be number one, you. know, not um necessarily regarding the. damages he's doing to other people in. the prosecution's eyes, right? Playing. out in the business sense. Um, so the. backstory is is that he didn't. appreciate the friendship that was.

forming between Biggie and Tupac and. therefore, you know, that's where his. alleged involvement came in. And then. when you um in terms of the non-payment, I think that was also a really shocking. moment as well because that's something. we saw happening over and over in the. documentary, multiple people who were. saying, "I was cheated out of my share. in the company. I wasn't paid hundreds. of thousands of dollars." Um, and. allegedly that's sort of how he treated. the artists that were on his label. So. again, it's the theme of always wanting. to be number one and um you know not not. necessarily giving people their due. business sense or per personal sense.

>> Okay. So with that I will tell you I. think one of the most shocking. allegations comes to Biggie Smalls. Okay. You talk about finances you talk. about okay one of the biggest names at. Bad Boy seemingly very close friends. with Shawn Combmes. Well according to. Kirk Burroughs Combmes and again this is. his allegation. According to Kirk. Burroughs Combmes insisted that Biggie. travel to Los Angeles as part of an. album tour. And this is despite, you. know, the serious dangers that were. present from the rivalries, the east. coast, west coast. And once there, Combmes allegedly decided to cancel a. trip that Biggie was supposed to take to.

the UK, instead saying he needed to stay. in LA. Combmes apparently threw a large. party and after which someone opened. fire on the car that Biggie was riding. in, killing him. Now, Burroughs alleges. that Combmes used all of this publicity. around Big E's murder and his massive. funeral to just gain his own fame for. his own benefit, shooting to the top of. the charts with the song Missing You, which featured, by the way, Biggiey's. widow. But this was one salacious claim. that I really wasn't expecting. According to Burroughs, Combmes. allegedly charged the cost of that.

massive funeral to Biggie's estate and. had Biggie's recently renegotiated. contract changed to make it more. favorable for Bad Boy Records and less. favorable for Biggiey's loved ones after. his death. Elizabeth, again, that one I. wasn't expecting. >> Yeah, it was really unexpected. And. again, I think it speaks to the strength. of the documentary um just at least. creatively and what they were able to. get in terms of the interviewees claims. that we hadn't heard before. So the. claims were that you know he had wanted. in the documentary the interviews talk. about Diddy had said we need to put on.

the biggest funeral New York has ever. seen for Biggie and when apparently. allegedly when he saw how much it would. cost that's when he had said you know. we'll be charging this to the estate. allegedly. Um one of the other things. was uh he had wanted to put out that. song about Biggie after he had passed. away and that was really a big moment. and he had performed it at the MTV Movie. Awards. And then one of the other claims. was um you know Biggie was set to debut. on the cover of Rolling Stone or at. least be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Um and allegedly one of the interviewees.

says uh after he had passed, Shawn. Combmes had called him and said, "I'm. coming out with my first solo album. I. need that cover." So he Shawn Combmes. had allegedly taken that cover from. Biggie even after he had passed away. And again, it kind of rides to this. theme of you know in the public his. friend had passed away. he was. devastated. But sort of what you see. behind the scenes, at least what the. documentary is alleging is all the. different ways he's using that to help. benefit him financially and in terms of. his career, which is something that we. hadn't seen before. And you know, even. myself, like I'm sure you, you know,

empathize Jesse as a millennial. We grew. up seeing Diddy, knowing the backstory. of him and Biggie and sort of knowing. that song and thinking, "Oh, they were. close friends. He paid tribute to his. friend. That's so moving." And then to. hear all of these allegations, it really. paints, you know, another picture. >> I remember when that happened. I. remember when that happened. It was such. a sad time. And to think about them. dedicating a song [snorts] um to his. close friend. I mean, it hit an. emotional core. You looked at Diddy in a. totally different light. Um now, these. again are are a different narrative, a. different allegation. We're trying to.

piece it together. Um I I do want to get. into the jurors. Okay, so let me the. jurors at the trial. Before we do, let. me just highlight a couple more things. and then we'll get into the jurors in. the cease and desist letter. So, one. gripping moment in the series, I got to. call it out, came when Aubry O Day, again, this former Danny Kane member who. spoke out against Combmes after Cassie. had filed a lawsuit, reads this. affidavit from another unidentified. person that detailed an alleged sexual. assault against her. And in that. affidavit, the witness said they walked. in on Combmes and another man performing.

sex acts on OD, who the witness said. appeared to be heavily inebriated, was. just lying there. And OD became. emotional when she was reading this, saying she'd never actually seen this. document, had only heard it read to her. over the phone, and she said she had no. memory of that happening to her, which. is just, you know, it's a it's a really. powerful moment. Someone else who worked. closely with Combmes was producer Rodney. Little Rod Jones, who was also. interviewed for the series. We've talked. about him a lot here on Sidebar because. he detailed several of the incidents. that he had previously included in a.

lawsuit against Combmes, including that. he believes Combmes drugged him on. multiple occasions. He also claims that. he worked with Combmes for a year on the. last album he put out, actually living. with Combmes during that time, but his. allegation is he claims he never got. paid for his work. And the documentary. included alleged voice messages from. Combmes where he assured Little Rod that. he would get paid eventually and that he. was making a big deal out of nothing. But now I got to talk about the jurors. Okay, so we heard from two of the jurors. who served on the jury during Comb's.

federal criminal trial in New York. So, juror 75 and juror 160, they spoke about. the split verdict with juror 75 saying, "We saw both sides of it and we came. with our conclusion." Juror 160 said. that she never felt like Holmes was. being coercive toward the jury, agreeing. that sometimes he would look over at. them or nod his head, but saying it. didn't seem like he was trying to sway. the jury one way or another. There were. others in the documentary who claimed. that Commes had an entire PR team. working outside the courthouse, making. sure to speak with bloggers and content. creators, pushing their narrative into.

the public consciousness. The jury, by. the way, wasn't sequestered during the. trial. Some in the docue series wondered. if, despite their best efforts, they. could have been influenced improperly by. the discourse going on around them. But. Elizabeth, these two jurors uh uh. speaking out there, what stood out to. you about their comments? And does. anything that they say in your opinion. affect the verdict? >> Yeah. So, this was so fascinating. You. very rarely hear from jurors um talking. publicly, especially about such a. high-profile trial like this and.

especially on camera. So, I think that. was a real coup for them to be able to. get these two jurors to come um on. camera. Um one of So, I I think it spoke. to two two things we saw in the trial. So the first juror who's a a younger. female juror had um talked about I think. the issue of what she saw as a lack of. credibility or the evidence that was. being presented. So one of the things. that she talked about was when Capricorn. Clark who had worked for Diddy for a. number of years came on the stand she. had talked about you know being her.

allegations were that she was kidnapped. that um she was forced to go with Diddy. when Diddy allegedly wanted to you know. commit physical harm upon Kid Cuddy. Um, and one one of the things that the juror. had said was that she found some. credibility issues with Capricorn Clark, that her testimony was overly emotional, but she was testifying to things that. happened a decade ago. So, it goes to. sort of the issue of credibility. And. also, one of the things that she had. said was, you know, that video of him. and Cassie in the hallway was. devastating, but domestic violence DV.

was not one of the charges. So, I think. it kind of spoke to the issue that some. of the jurors had of, you know, jurors. love black and white evidence. They love. videos. They love photos. They love sort. of that being caught red-handed moment. So, if Devi was one of the charges, obviously, I think he would have been. convicted just based on that video. But. I think um she kind of spoke to the. issue of at least in the juror's eyes. and what we saw from the verdict was. where was that evidence of coercion um. in terms of trafficking? Sort of that. physical evidence. At least they didn't. see it from what the verdict appeared.

And then the other juror who was an. older gentleman had talked about the. nature of the relationship between. Cassie and Diddy. And I I thought that. was really fascinating because one of. the things he had said was, you know, we. heard testimony from her about how. difficult this relationship was, but she. kept going back. So, one of the things. he had said was, "If you don't like. something, you get out." And I think. that kind of speaks to. maybe the difficulty that some of the. jurors had of understanding the nuance. between uh two people in this kind of. volatile relationship. Um I know, you. know, the trial had experts to come and.

testify about the emotional ways that. can play out, but I think that spoke to. two two themes. the nature of the. evidence and then also difficulty in. kind of understanding the back and forth. relationship and why Cassandra Venttor. would go back given how she was being. treated. >> Well, we say all this to say it's not. surprising that Shawn Combmes and his. team are not happy about this. Okay, which now we go back to the CND letter, the cease and desist letter that Comes. Lawyer sent to Netflix's Netflix's chief. legal officer. That's what I want to. focus on now. Okay, so according to.

attorney Michael Traanti, they had. already sent a cease and desist letter. to the streaming service in July of. 2024. This is before Combmes was even. indicted. But now they send this new. letter on December 1st, the day before. the documentary was set to be released. and essentially calling it a hit piece. Quote, "First, Netflix's promotion of. the program as a documentary is. fundamentally misleading. In truth, the. program is a hit piece. It was conceived. and produced by Curtis James Jackson aka. 50 Cent whose irrational fixation on. destroying Mr. Comb's reputation is a.

matter of public record. The evidence of. Mr. Jackson's vicious animus against Mr. Combmes is overwhelming. He has been. trolling Mr. Combmes on the internet and. social media for years and has made a. career of attempting to defame, belittle, and provoke Mr. Combmes and. turn the public against him. We provided. ample evidence of Mr. Jackson's avowed. hatred of Mr. Combmes in our prior cease. and desist letter dated July 3rd, 2024. And since that time, Mr. Jackson's. determination to take down Mr. Combmes. has increased dramatically. Simply put, there is no one less able to view any. aspect of Mr. Comb's life and legacy.

through a fair and objective lens. Given. Mr. Jackson's central role in the. project and is declared objective of. disgracing Mr. Combmes, Netflix cannot. honestly market the program as a. documentary, as that term falsely. suggests. It is based on facts. Instead, the program is based on fabrications. born from Mr. Jackson's personal. vendetta against Mr. Combmes. For this. reason alone, Netflix must withdraw the. program. Now, to be clear, recently 50. Cent, who's been doing a media tour for. this, has said, "I don't have any hatred. against Shangh and employed his sons.".

And so, he tried to beat back against. that narrative. Now, according to. Traumante, Netflix had actually been in. talks with Combmes to make a show about. him before the sudden cratering of his. career. Quote, "In or about 2023, CEO. Ted Sarandos proposed that Netflix. produce a documentary about Mr. Combmes. However, Mr. Combmes rejected the. proposal when Mr. Sarandos insisted he. give up creative control. Thus, the. choice of Mr. Jackson to produce the. program was Netflix's vindictive. response to that rejection and attempt. by Netflix and Mr. Sarandos to ensure a.

one-sided character assassination rather. than a balanced and accurate portrayal. Now, Elizabeth, you know about CND. letters, right? Very common in the media. industry. Um, this idea that this isn't. journalism, this is a hit piece, this is. based on fabrications. What do you take away from this letter? Is there a a a strong this Let's start. with this part. This idea that it can't. positively be called it can accurately. be called a documentary. It's improper.

Yeah, it's um it's not surprising that. they tried to get out in front of this. and um you know tried to persuade. Netflix not to come forward with it. I. think it's an interesting argument. because what they're claiming is you. know Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent has had. a long-standing you know animosity. against Diddy and sort of vice versa. Um, and because he's at the helm, they're arguing this can't be taken. seriously. This should sort of be seen. as propaganda. And one of the things. that Netflix hit back with was, you. know, yes, he's the executive producer, he doesn't necessarily have creative. control. And that's something we know.

that just because you're the producer on. a project doesn't mean that you have. final creative say um over, you know, what the tone of the piece is going to. be, how it's going to be um depicting. somebody. So, it makes sense that they. would use their argument. you know, they're trying and there's multiple. arguments within the cease and desist. letters about um why they allege this is. improper. So, I wasn't surprised that. they tried to use that argument. And. again, like you said, 50 Cent has been. the public face of this. He's been doing. interviews about it since um the. documentary dropped. So, I don't I'm not. surprised that they used it. I don't.

think it's necessarily the strongest. argument um to be made because, as you. know, there's so many people that have. their hands on this type of project, especially, you know, one as lengthy as. this. just because he's the producer on. it doesn't necessarily mean he has sort. of final control of how it's going to. come out. And also remember it's. Netflix. You know they produce esteemed. and established documentaries for years. and years. So um I don't think all the. people that are involved in a a piece. like this are going to um you know put. it out with sort of a propaganda lens or. you know this view to try to take Shan.

Colmes down. The director of the piece. had said you know we wanted to be able. to give the interviewees a chance to. speak their truth and talk about their. experiences. Okay, let me go to the second argument. in the C synthesis letter and get your. take on it. Second, Mr. Jackson's malice. towards Mr. Combmes is exacerbated by. the payments he apparently offered to. those who agreed to appear in the. program. No serious studio would. distribute a documentary in which the. subjects were paid to offer testimonials. consistent with the producers's bias. against the subject. For this reason. also, Netflix must withdraw the program. Now, to be clear, Netflix has disputed.

that anyone was paid for their. participation. And there's lots of news. programs who refuse to pay participants. for their interviews. But you do wonder, are there any actual legal limitations. here, Elizabeth, what do you think? >> Yeah, so that's true. So Netflix had. come out and said nobody was paid for. this documentary. That's their the. viewpoint. Um like you said, there's. many news organizations that refuse to. pay for interviewees. Uh just because it. kind of goes to the credibility of the. news organization. Um I think there's a. little bit of a fine line between, you. know, pure news coverage and long- form.

documentaries. There are some. entertainment companies and production. companies out there that will pay. interviewees um depending on how much or. that will pay for access to certain. materials, photos, videos, releases, things like that. Um but a lot of them. don't because like as you said it sort. of goes to the issue of credibility. So. um here Netflix is saying we did not pay. anyone. Um and you know we haven't. really seen evidence put forward yet by. Col's team that they have. So, um, you. know, I think again makes sense that. they would try to use that argument. But.

again, you know, even if some. interviewees have been paid, I don't. think that necessarily scrapes away at. the integrity of the project. I think. it's just case by case. Some companies. pay for interviewees, some don't. Um, you know, here Netflix is saying they. didn't. So, you know, that's you kind of. have to take what they're both both. sides are saying at face value. >> Okay, let's go into the third argument. So, the cease and desist letters third. argument arguably might be maybe its. strongest. the claim that Netflix broke. copyright laws by using media that. didn't belong to them. Quote, "Netflix.

is poised to publish content, including. intimate personal information that it. obtained in violation of the Copyright. Act, Mr. Comb's privacy rights, and in. breach of numerous non-disclosure, non-disparagement, and intellectual. property agreements about which Netflix. is or should be aware. For example, it. appears that Netflix possesses and. intends to rebroadcast portions of video. recordings of Mr. homes that are his. property, but which employees and. independent contractors illicitly. disclosed to Netflix in violation of. binding contractual prohibitions against.

such disclosure by distributing video. recordings exclusively owned by Mr. Combmes and or entities owned or. controlled by Mr. Combmes without. authorization. Netflix would be subject. to liability for copyright infringement. under the Copyright Act. Elizabeth, is. there any grounds to this? Because let. me tell you, copyright infringement, that's where the numbers can go up. that. is where you can get into serious. payments. Talk to me about that. >> Yeah, so I I agree this was probably. their strongest argument they set forth. I was kind of surprised they didn't. place it as sort of the first argument. within the um cease and desist because.

you usually the rule is for any motion. or cease or desist or any legal. document, you start out with the. strongest argument first and kind of. work your way down. Um but right so. that's the thing that they're claiming. is that this usage of the footage of him. speaking to his attorneys having these. conversations um violated copyright. privacy and also various agreements that. they say the videographers had signed um. you know NDAs non-disparagement clauses. things like that I think that's the. strongest argument and again you know. there's still a question mark in the air.

because it hasn't been proven who. ultimately has the rights to this. footage. You know, I would venture to. say that in most scenario, in most. cases, if you are an individual. employing a videographer to film. yourself, um you know, the person who. the videographer and the person who's. filming likely has signed rights over to. the employer. That's how it usually. works. So, if Shawn Combmes does indeed. have the rights to this footage, you. know, and it was obtained by the people. behind the documentary um without the. proper licenses, I think there could be. a valid claim for copyright here.

However, if it can be proven that, you. know, the videographer obtained rights. to this footage, if he obtained a. license, he's able to transfer it over. um to the doc people behind the. documentary, then I think a strong. argument could be made in their favor as. well. I think um if this does play out. and if there is litigation filed, I. think it's going to come forward who. ultimately has the rights to this video. Netflix keeps saying the video was. submitted to them and they obtained it. legally. So, if that's the case, then I, you know, is there again a license? Is.

there a release that was given to them. by the videographer? We know it didn't. come from Shawn Colmes. So, I feel like. that would be the only real scenario is. that somehow the videographer was able. to obtain rights to it and then grant it. over to them. >> Well, look, Colmes and his lawyers, they're demanding this entire series be. wiped from the streaming service. Uh, quote, "To mitigate further damage and. avoid legal action in connection with. the concerns we've raised, Netflix must. immediately withdraw the program prior. to any future publication, Netflix must. verify that each and every statement. about Mr. combs that it intends to. publish is true and not made in.

violation of any contractual obligations. or legal duties. Must conduct a thorough. investigation to determine whether it is. in possession of the videos or any other. unlawfully obtained media. Must. immediately return the videos or any. other unlawfully obtained media to the. undersigned council and must immediately. cease and desist from any use or. dissemination of the foregoing content. Now, in a statement to Variety on. Tuesday, a Netflix spokesperson said, quote, "The project has no ties to any. past conversations between Shawn Combmes. and Netflix. The footage of Combmes. leading up to his indictment and arrest.

were legally obtained. This is not a hit. piece or an act of retribution. Curtis. Jackson is an executive producer, but. does not have creative control. No one. was paid to participate." Okay, we'll. see where this goes. Elizabeth Wool, thank you so much for taking the time. Good to see you. [music]. >> Thank you so much for having me. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, [music]. Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcast. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak. to you next time.