Sean “Diddy” Combs countersued Rodney Jones, who previously sued the music mogul for sexual assault, alleging Jones sold stolen footage to Netflix for 50 Cent’s documentary, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning.”
In the Tuesday countersuit, obtained and reviewed by TheWrap, the Bad Boy Records founder alleged that Jones, a videographer, used his access to Combs during a 2022 trip to St. Barths to steal the footage in question, which was later featured in Netflix’s Emmy-nominated documentary series about Diddy.
“Mr. Jones was supposed to stay in the staff villa. However, after first coming to the yacht, Mr. Jones did not want to leave,” the lawsuit stated. “There was no room available for Mr. Jones on the yacht — but that did not deter Mr. Jones, who preferred to sleep on couches on the yacht to remain in the vicinity of Mr. Combs.”
Combs’ legal team claimed that while Jones was one of multiple videographers on the 2022 trip, they believe he stole another cameraman’s footage and subsequently took steps to conceal the alleged theft.
“Mr. Jones devised a plan to exploit the trust provided to him by Mr. Combs during the St. Barths trip,” the lawsuit stated, “and to obtain leverage over Mr. Combs by stealing valuable footage that Mr. Combs and the videographers were collecting for Mr. Combs’ documentary.”
The countersuit added: “One day during the trip to St. Barths, when one videographer was away from his workstation, Mr. Jones accessed the videographer’s workstation without authorization and secretly stole certain Computer Drives containing footage the videographer had filmed for the Combs Documentary.”
Per Combs’ camp, the rapper “did not become aware of Mr Jones’ theft until December 2025 when it came to his attention that the stolen footage – footage Mr. Combs had created for use in his own forthcoming documentary — had been published by Netflix in a competing documentary.”
The suit added: “Upon information and belief, Mr. Jones remains in possession of the Stolen Computer Drives to this day.”
Following the release of “The Reckoning,” Netflix maintained that “footage of Combs leading up to his indictment and arrest were legally obtained. This is not a hit piece or an act of retribution. Curtis Jackson [50 Cent] is an executive producer but does not have creative control. No one was paid to participate.”
The spokesperson also stated that claims being made about the legality of the documentary series were “false,” adding, “The project has no ties to any past conversations between Sean Combs and Netflix.”
Alexandria Stapleton, the director of “The Reckoning,” also maintained that the project “obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights,” noting at the time, “We moved heaven and earth to keep the filmmaker’s identity confidential. One thing about Sean Combs is that he’s always filming himself, and it’s been an obsession throughout the decades. We also reached out to Sean Combs’ legal team for an interview and comment multiple times, but did not hear back.”
Diddy also accused Jones of defamation in the countersuit, citing the repeated sexual assault allegations made in “The Reckoning.”
“Mr. Jones’s statements in his Netflix interview accusing Mr. Combs of directing him to procure sex workers are false and Mr. Jones knew they were false,” the document noted. “Mr. Jones also falsely claimed in his interview in the Competing Documentary that he was given drugs by Mr. Combs without his knowledge.”
Combs’ countersuit comes over two years after Jones accused the mogul of sexual assault, sexual harassment, as well as drugging and threatening him, in a suit filed in February 2024. At the time, Combs’ lawyer slammed Jones as “nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit, shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday.” In March 2025, a federal judge dismissed five of Jones’ nine claims.
Separate from this case, Combs was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison in October 2025, after he was found guilty on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. He denied all allegations of wrongdoing that surfaced in his criminal trial.
His release date has moved a handful of times, but is expected to be released in February 2028.
Representatives for Combs and Jones did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
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