Sean Combs: The Reckoning made headlines, dominated social media, and topped Netflix’s streaming charts in December.
Now the documentary series from director Alexandria Stapleton and executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is getting recognition from the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
On Jan. 7, the DGA announced the nominees for outstanding directorial achievement in television, commercials and documentary for 2025, and Netflix’s Diddy docuseries made the cut.
Episode 3 of the four-part series titled “Official Girl” picked up a nomination in the outstanding directorial achievement in documentary series/news category.
The episode features Diddy-Dirty Money singer Kalenna Harper, former male escort Clayton Howard, former NYPD Detective Derrick Parker, former Bad Boy Entertainment security guard Roger Bonds, and several Bad Boy recording artists.
It detailed allegations of rampant drug use, gun play, and domestic violence.
Parker was part of the NYPD’s “rap unit” and noted Combs was frequently in trouble with the law.
“In this unit, my job was to deal with the rap industry as a whole and everybody called me Diddy’s detective because every time Diddy got into trouble, I was always the guy that had to be there,” Parker said.
Bonds revealed Combs would go to Harlem and press the flesh with local residents for validation after he got into trouble, although the former security guard said the mogul did not like being around his fans.
“To be honest with you, Sean was uncomfortable around so many Black people,” Bonds stated.
The episode included exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Combs asking for hand sanitizer and saying he needed to bathe after meeting with fans in Harlem.
“I got to take a bath. Like, the amount of people that actually I’m coming in contact with… that’s what I have to do,” he said.
Others in the docuseries said Combs was a horrible romantic partner and collected women like pieces of property. Harper noted that he was juggling former girlfriends Kim Porter and Casandra “Cassie” Ventura at the same time.
Cassie was “his trophy” and Porter was the “real one,” Harper said.
“When Kim would come around, Cassie would have to go get a massage or something, because Kim was like, ‘I’m not doing this s–t,'” Harper explained.
The Diddy-Dirty Money singer said Combs was constantly surrounded by drugs and would stay awake for “days.”
“He was like a baby, he didn’t wanna go to sleep,” Harper stated before ticking off a list of substances that would be in the recording studio. “That’s the Bad Boy way,” she said.
Howard, who for years engaged in “freak-off” sessions with Cassie and Diddy — and is now suing the pair alleging he contracted an STD — said substances were always part of their encounters.
“I don’t think I ever encountered Puff when he wasn’t high out of his face.” Howard said. “They used to lace the baby oil with GHB… We’d go through ten bottles of baby oil for a session that lasted 3 or 4 days.”
The ex-escort also alleged he witnessed Combs physically attack Cassie after she “smirked” during one of their sessions, reportedly over the small size of the mogul’s manhood.
Combs was convicted in July on two prostitution-related Mann Act counts. He is currently serving a 50-month sentence at a federal prison in New Jersey.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning debuted on Dec. 2, and was viewed 21.8 million times in the first six days.
The series will compete at the 78th Annual DGA Awards against Peacock’s SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night; HBO Max’s Billy Joel: And So It Goes; Apple TV’s Mr. Scorsese; and HBO Max’s Pee-Wee as Himself.
The winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026 in Beverly Hills. You can read the full list of nominees on the DGA website.
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