Janice Combs, mother of Sean “Diddy” Combs, is pushing back forcefully against claims presented in the Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, which premiered on December 2, 2025.
In a statement shared with Deadline, she rejected several of the documentary’s most dramatic allegations, arguing that the filmmakers distorted both her son’s personal history and their family dynamic for sensational effect.
“I am writing this statement to correct some of the lies presented in the Netflix, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, released on December 2, 2025.” She continued, “These inaccuracies regarding my son Sean’s upbringing and family life is intentionally done to mislead viewers and further harm our reputation.”
Janice Combs and Diddy attend the MTV Music Video Awards at the Prudential Center on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey.
John Nacion/WireImage
Combs criticized the streaming platform for leaning into spectacle, accusing Netflix of choosing to go “salacious to promote the series.”
“In the documentary, I am portrayed as an abusive parent. This is untrue. As I have stated previously, I was a single mother, raising my son, I held three and even four jobs in an attempt to provide a comfortable upbringing and quality education for my child. I raised Sean with love and hard work, not abuse.”
Central to her objections is a reenacted moment involving former Bad Boy Records executive Kirk Burrowes, who claims Diddy slapped his mother during a conversation following the City College tragedy on December 28, 1991. Janice Combs categorically denies it.
Janice Combs, mother of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, arrives at the Southern District of New York Federal Court for a court hearing on April 18, 2025 in New York City. In a motion filed on Wednesday, attorneys for Combs asked to delay the start of his sex trafficking trial by two months after its scheduled May 5 start date.
Adam Gray/Getty Images
“The allegations stated by Mr. Kirk Burrows that my son slapped me while we were conversing after the tragic City College events on December 28, 1991, are inaccurate and patently false,” she insisted. “That was a very sad day for all of us,” she added.
Her statement goes further, challenging Burrowes’ motives and portraying his participation in the series as opportunistic.
“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.”
Janice Combs, mother of Sean “Diddy” Combs, arrives for Combs’ sex trafficking trial at Manhattan Federal Court on June 03, 2025 in New York City. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty on all counts, which include a racketeering charge alleging the hip-hop pioneer was the leader of a sex crime ring that included drug-fueled sex parties through the use of force, threats and violence.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Combs’ lawyers have publicly threatened legal action against Netflix, though no filings have yet been made. Netflix, for its part, maintains that the project was produced responsibly and without bias.
“This is not a hit piece or an act of retribution,” a spokesperson for the streamer said. “Curtis Jackson is an executive producer but does not have creative control. No one was paid to participate.”
Combs is currently incarcerate at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he is serving a 50-month federal prison sentence received after convictions on prostitution-related charges earlier this year.
Read Janice Combs’ full statement here.
Sean “Diddy” Combs attends the 2022 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 15, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
