“Unethical and unacceptable” - Diddy’s videographer brings latest updates to footage dispute regarding Netflix’s Sean Combs: The Reckoning

Sean Combs: The Reckoning docuseries' footage disputes and allegations continue after it was released on Netflix on December 2. Even before the series arrived, Sean "Diddy" Combs slammed the project via a spokesperson on December 1 and called it a "shameful hit piece."

They also alleged that the documentary used stolen footage and called out Netflix for greenlighting the project. Now, the videographer who has worked with Diddy since 2019 and was involved in filming 'a project profiling Sean "Diddy" Combs, Michael Oberlies, has broken his silence. 

Oberlies aims to clear his name after Diddy's camp called the footage prior to his arrest "stolen" and was "never authorized for release." He told Rolling Stone on December 10: 

"The footage in question was not released by me or anyone authorized to handle Sean Combs' material; it was by a third party who covered for me for three days while I was out of state."

Oberlies clarified that the issue has nothing to do with any "fee dispute or contract issue." He also slammed whoever released Diddy's footage for the Netflix documentary, adding: 

"The actions of the parties involved reflect the lack of integrity every storyteller should uphold. Taking footage intended for our project to advance a narrative that was not our own is both unethical and unacceptable."

Netflix previously defended against claims that Sean Combs: The Reckoning is a shameless hit piece

Netflix's spokesperson recently shared a statement rebutting Diddy's camp claiming that Sean Combs: The Reckoning is a shameless hit piece. They shared a statement to Deadline the night after the docuseries was released on the streamer. They said: 

"The claims being made about Sean Combs: The Reckoning are false."

They also refuted Diddy's attorneys' claims in a cease-and-desist letter sent on December 1 that the rapper's pre-arrest footage from last year was "stolen." The streamer's statement added that the footage leading up to the rapper's indictment and arrest was "legally obtained."

Netflix also disproved claims that it joined forces with Diddy's nemesis 50 Cent in a "vindictive response" for the docuseries after they allegedly failed to strong-arm Diddy to participate in the project. Netflix said that there were "no ties to any past conversations" between them and Diddy, adding: 

"This is not a it piece or an act of retribution. Curtis Jackson is an executive producer but does not have creative control."

Netflix also claimed that no one was paid to participate in the Sean Combs: The Reckoning docuseries. 

Speaking of those who participated in the docuseries, plenty of people formerly close to Diddy gave exclusive interviews for the project. Kirk Burrows, who was the co-founder of Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment, was one of the key figures interviewed in the docuseries.

Several of Diddy's Making the Band's former contestants also gave interviews for the doc. One of them is Danity Kane member Aubrey O'Day, who claims that the rapper may have sexually assaulted her despite saying that she had no recollection of the incident. 

Other former contestants include Da Band's Brooklyn Babs, and four Day26 members. Diddy's former assistant and former Bad Boy Entertainment creative director Capricorn Clark also took part in the doc. There are also two former police officers and two jurors from Diddy's sex trafficking trial who shared their accounts. 

All four episodes of Sean Combs: The Reckoning are now streaming on Netflix.