It's been nearly two whole decades since 50 Cent first started publicly feuding with disgraced music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs - and it's quite the history to wrap your head around.
The decade-spanning beef has hit headlines once again following the release last week (2 December) of the four-part docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, produced by Netflix and 50 Cent, taking an in-depth look at the controversies and allegations surrounding Combs.
The two men's rap rivalry kicked off back in 2006, when the 'In da Club' rapper, real name Curtis James Jackson III, accused Combs of having something to do with Notorious B.I.G.'s murder in 1997 in his diss track 'The Bomb' - accusations which Combs later denied.
In the subsequent years since, the pair have gone back and forth with each other but it wasn't until last year that their beef came to a head when Combs' house was raided in March 2024 by the Department of Homeland Security, amid a series of lawsuits alleging the rapper sexually abused and trafficked men and women, which Combs has denied and has since been acquitted.
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But let's rewind back to when and how it all began, and brace yourselves, as it's a fair bit to wrap your head around!
Early industry links
Now, both artists moved through the same circles in the 1990s, with their paths crossing often and mutual contacts encouraging collaboration.
50 Cent later said he helped ghostwrite on Combs' 2001 track 'Let’s Get It', describing their dynamic as professional rather than personal, noting that he 'didn’t ever party or hang out with him'. He said he saw Combs as a business figure who sometimes took credit for work he hadn’t produced.
The 2006 diss that set everything off
As we say, the feud ignited when 50 released 'The Bomb' in 2006. He implied Combs held knowledge about Biggie’s killing, rapping: "Who shot Biggie Smalls? We don’t get ‘em / They gonna kill us all ... Man, Puffy know who hit that n----."
Combs denied any involvement, as he did in response to similar rumours over Tupac Shakur’s death.
Competing vodka deals add fuel
Brand rivalry kept tensions alive with Combs becoming the face of Ciroc in 2007. 50, meanwhile, later aligned with Effen Vodka, then sold his stake but continued using the comparison to needle Combs.
He argued that Ciroc’s production made it inferior and joked about the headaches it caused.
An 'uncomfortable' encounter
50 said a past exchange with Combs left him unsettled as he recalled Combs offering to take him shopping and described it as 'the weirdest sh*t in the world'. He said this shifted his perception of Combs and made him wary of his behaviour.
Combs' 2018 attempt to diffuse the tension
Despite the ongoing digs, Combs played the feud down during a radio appearance, claiming 50 'loves me' and joking publicly about wanting to be his friend.
Combs also teased that he could help 50 improve his 'money-getter' skills, calling himself 'the number one money-getter in the world'.
Raids and rising legal trouble
Everything escalated after Cassie Ventura sued Combs in late 2023, alleging rape and assault. The case settled the next day. Soon after, Homeland Security raided Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami amid trafficking allegations, all of which Combs denied and was later acquitted of.
50 reacted sharply on X, writing at the time: "Now it’s not Diddy do it, it’s Diddy done, they don’t come like that unless they got a case."
Cassie hotel footage shifts public mood
CNN released a video showing Combs assaulting Cassie in 2016, prompting 50 to confirm his long-held suspicions.
"First, he denied that it even happened, and then the tape comes out - so that means everything that n---- says is a lie," he told The Hollywood Reporter. He added that anyone imagining their daughter in that situation would find it 'crazy'.
Distance from Combs' parties
As lawsuits described alleged sex-trafficking at Combs' parties, 50 stressed that he never attended them, saying there was 'an uncomfortable energy connected to it' and that he’d been open about staying away.
He dismissed criticism from peers who viewed his comments as snitching, saying he had been voicing the same concerns 'for four years, five years'.
Netflix documentary
Combs was arrested in September 2024. By then, 50 had already begun developing a documentary for Netflix, saying it mattered to platform the accounts of people who claimed to have been harmed by Combs.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning premiered on 2 December 2025. It featured interviews with long-time associates, figures involved in the trafficking investigation and one alleged victim.
It also included previously unseen footage recorded in the six days before Combs' arrest, which director Alexandria Stapleton said she 'moved heaven and earth' to keep anonymous.
In a joint statement, 50 and Stapleton called it 'a story with significant human impact. It is a complex narrative spanning decades, not just the headlines or clips seen so far'.
50 argued he had been speaking plainly for years, claiming: "Look, it seems like I'm doing some extremely outrageous things, but I haven't. It's really me just saying what I've been saying for 10 years."
He framed the documentary as part of that stance, adding in a statement that the team wanted 'to give a voice to the voiceless and to present authentic and nuanced perspectives'.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning is currently streaming on Netflix.
Tyla has reached out to both 50 Cent and Sean 'Diddy' Combs' representatives for comment.
Topics: Celebrity, Crime, Diddy, Explained, Music, US News, TV And Film, Netflix, Documentaries
Rhiannon Ingle