Sean “Diddy” Combs and 50 Cent both emerged as major forces in the rap scene during the same era, and their longstanding rivalry has been almost as famous as their music careers.

The tension between Diddy and 50 Cent, which dates back to the early 2000s, resurfaced dramatically nearly 20 years later. In March 2024, Diddy found himself in the spotlight when Homeland Security searched his homes in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a federal sex trafficking probe. Although he was found guilty on two counts related to prostitution, he was cleared of more severe charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking. Diddy has consistently maintained his innocence.

Following Diddy’s sentencing to 50 months in prison in October 2025, 50 Cent announced that he would be releasing a Netflix documentary titled Sean Combs: The Reckoning, focusing on the scandal.

“This is gonna break records when this drops. GLGGreenLightGang you know the vibes,” 50 Cent declared on X, generating buzz for the upcoming documentary.

Keep scrolling for a complete breakdown of Diddy and 50 Cent’s feud:

May 2002

50 Cent (real name Curtis James Jackson III) first referenced Diddy on the track “U Not Like Me,” from his Grammy-nominated breakthrough album Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

On the track, 50 Cent rapped: “Hoes be like ’50, you so witty’/ On the d*** like they heard I ghostwrite for P. Diddy.”

November 2002

The two directly collaborated on a remix of the late Notorious B.I.G. song “N*****,” which was originally released on 1999’s posthumous album, Born Again.

Diddy introduces the remix as “a Shadyville Entertainment and Big Boy collaboration,” before 50 Cent pokes fun at him with some opening bars.

“I don’t dance around like Diddy,” 50 Cent teases.

August 2003

Diddy presented 50 Cent with the Best Rap Video award for “In Da Club” at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.

August 2005

Trouble first arose when 50 Cent intervened in Diddy’s contractual dispute with Bad Boy Entertainment artist Mase. Mase (real name Mason Durell Betha) wanted out of his Bad Boy deal — so 50 Cent offered to pay the balance of his contract and then sign him to his G-Unit label.

Negotiations ultimately fell through, with 50 Cent later telling The Howard Stern Show that Diddy himself was the main roadblock.

“[Mase] created some material that I was excited about, and when we came back to try to make the deal, me and Puff … [Diddy] was being unreasonable,” 50 Cent alleged. “I think he felt like Mase was the last piece to his legacy.”

Years later, 50 Cent accused Diddy of being “a sucker” for interfering in his attempt to help Mase.

“He asked me for $2 million,” 50 Cent told Funkmaster Flex. “[I was] like, ‘Mase ain’t worth $2 million with $2 million in his pocket.’”

September 2006

More drama between the two rappers can be traced back to the release of 50 Cent’s “The Bomb,” which seemingly points to Diddy having knowledge about the 1997 murder of The Notorious B.I.G.

“Who shot Biggie Smalls? We don’t get ‘em / They gonna kill us all,” 50 Cent rapped. “Man, Puffy know who hit that n****.”

50 Cent has never had proof of Diddy’s involvement in the murder. Diddy, for his part, has frequently denied that he had any information about the killer.

September 2007

Despite 50 Cent’s diss track a year earlier, he once again collaborated with Diddy on a remix of his song “I Get Money.” During an October 2024 appearance on The Breakfast Club, 50 Cent alleged that he and Jay-Z ghostwrote Diddy’s verse.

“There were certain things [Diddy] wanted to say and Jay knew he wanted to insert it into the record,” 50 explained. “[Diddy] would [be like], ‘Yo, put this in there.’ [Jay-Z’s] mind is formatted like that.”

He went, “Now, artists freestyle and freestyle and freestyle, but Jay remembers the idea in his head so he can just say it without writing it down. Because it came out already ready, I said, ‘Put it in there!’”

Shortly after the track’s release, Diddy spoke to All Things Hip Hop about the way he and 50 were able to put their differences aside.

“The beauty about it, at the end of the day we all love to make music,” Diddy recalled. “It wasn’t no real egos involved, we all played our positions.”

June 2010

50 Cent knocked Diddy’s musical accomplishments while speaking to Hot 93.7 FM. He specifically claimed that his rival would rather “write checks” than create new music.

“He’s not an artist,” 50 Cent claimed. “An artist would be someone who wrote actually something on a record.”

He went on, “What made hip-hop exciting to me was each person’s individual experience and how you learn to enjoy them as an individual. When that’s not there because they’re just being an executive, like ‘I don’t write rhymes, I write checks’, that’s not hip-hop.”

July 2010

50 Cent accused Diddy of cheapening the legacy of The Notorious B.I.G. for financial gain during an appearance on Eminem’s Sirius XM Shade 45 channel.

“Biggie’s name should never have become Diddy’s Black Card … When was the last time Diddy really was biggin up his brother, not biggin up his bank?” 50 Cent asked.

The “In Da Club” rapper also accused Diddy of using his successful friends to boost his public profile.

“Puffy is a bitch … You know how an ugly bitch surrounds herself with pretty girls?” he said. “Well, he is the pretty bitch with the other girls around him. He will suck the life out of everyone he is around.”

January 2011

Diddy was asked directly about 50 Cent’s criticism that he wasn’t “an artist” during an interview with The Independent. The mogul assured the publication that he did not take the insult personally.

“Look, I’m one of the greatest that ever did it. Know what I’m saying?” Diddy declared. “The history is right there. You can just look at it and see who the leader is, by the way people walk, talk, act, dress. It’s clear: I’m responsible for a whole generation of people that have empowered themselves, and become businessmen and women and artists.”

August 2012

Both musicians paused their public mudslinging following the death of music manager Chris Lighty, who died from a suspected suicide at age 44. (Some, including 50 Cent, have questioned the official explanation of Lighty’s death.)

Lighty managed both 50 Cent and Diddy at various points in their careers.

“[He] an important part of my business and personal growth for a decade,” 50 Cent said in a statement at the time. “ He was a good friend and advisor who helped me develop as an artist and businessman. My prayers are with his family. He will be greatly missed.”

Diddy tweeted: “R.I.P. Christ Lighty. He Was A Dear Friend Of Mine And I Still Can’t Believe It.”

April 2014

50 Cent resumed his feud with Diddy after a relatively quiet few years by insulting the latter’s single “Big Homie.”

“Puff still out there, he don’t even need a record, ’cause he don’t got one,” 50 complained to 92Q Jams. “You know Puff ain’t got no music that you want to hear. That ‘Big Homie’ s**t is garbage.”

2014

After the duo traded barbs on social media and in songs for years, their feud escalated after they both were tapped to rep competing vodka brands. Diddy has co-owned Ciroc since 2007, eight years before 50 Cent became the spokesperson for Dutch brand Effen Vodka.

“Puff’s is not even vodka. It’s grapes [and] says ‘made with vodka,’ you know what I’m saying?” 50 Cent later claimed during a 2018 interview on the “Drink Champs” podcast. “[Effen] is made from wheat from Holland and distilled five times so it’s a lot less sugar, it’s the right way. And then later when you have a headache because you finished your full bottle of Ciroc. … I told you I was smarter.”

50 Cent ended his partnership with Effen in 2017.

February 2016

50 Cent doubled down on his previous theories about the 1990s East Coast/West Coast rap wars following the release of the documentary Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders. In the film, former LAPD detective Greg Kading examines allegations that Diddy may have been involved in the September 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.

Supporting Kading’s theory via Instagram, 50 Cent wrote: “LMAO SO PUFFY WIT THE S*** HUN?? SEE YOU GOTTA WATCH THESE PUNKS,? SCARY ASS N***** A TRY YOU. #nopuffyjuice he killed Tupac lol.”

Diddy has always denied having anything to do with Shakur’s murder, including reaching out to Tupac’s brother Mopreme Shakur directly to refute the rumors.

December 2017

Diddy offered no public response when 50 Cent shared a homophobic message, alongside a photo of himself surrounded by stuffed animals.

“Recovering From Pettiness. Sorry I can no longer help you guys, soon you will all be gay and happy,” he wrote. “You are all now left under leadership of PUFFY DADDY. Report to the nearest rainbow. #denofthieves jan19.”

January 2018

50 Cent has also repeatedly claimed that Diddy is “fruity” through the years.

“When he says things, he doesn’t even know what he’s saying is, like, fruity. He says to Fabolous, ‘Me and you, we need to party,’” 50 Cent recalled during the “Drink Champs” appearance. “What is you talking about? When people say that to me I get a little uncomfortable.”

He continued, “He said something to me a long time ago, at Chris Lighty’s wedding. He told me he’d take me shopping. I looked at him like, ‘What’d you just say? Let me move, man, before I do something. You gon’ make me mess up the wedding.’ No. That’s something a guy says to a girl.”

Later that year, Diddy denied the claims and the feud speculation.

“I don’t have no beef with Fif. He loves me,” Diddy said during an appearance on The Breakfast Club. “Y’all can’t see that he loves me? You really think that’s hate? You know he loves me.”

November 2018

Diddy’s former girlfriend Kim Porter — and mother to his son Christian and twin daughters Jessie and D’lila — died at age 47 due to complications from lobar pneumonia.

50 Cent was one of many in the hip-hop community to offer public support for Diddy in the wake of Porter’s death.

“R.I.P to Kim Porter, I send my condolences to her friends and family,” 50 wrote. “She was loved and will be missed dearly. I know Puff is hit right now, he loved her for real, soul mate type s***. Chin up puff, Positive vibes only.”

September 2022

Daphne Joy — who shares son Sire with 50 Cent — went to Diddy’s iHeartRadio Music Festival performance and shared footage via social media. 50 Cent subsequently called out her alleged allegiance to Diddy by going to the concert.

Joy was unhappy with 50 Cent’s callout. “Please stop doing this to me,” she wrote in a since-deleted Instagram comment. “I never bother you and I’m an outstanding mother to our son. Can we please just focus on that. Please.”

November 2023

Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie filed a lawsuit against him. She claimed that she had been sexually assaulted and suffered physical abuse for a decade. Diddy denied the allegations before they reached a settlement one day after her filing. Amid the scandal, multiple other individuals came forward with similar allegations. Diddy vehemently denied each subsequent claim before stepping down as chairman of his Revolt company.

50 Cent, meanwhile, was interested in taking over the media organization.

“I’ll buy that from you play boy, for the low because you know Cadillac and AT&T gonna pull out,” 50 Cent wrote via X. “I’ll give you a few dollars for it now! Sell it to me, then we can be friends. I’m serious call my phone.”

December 2023

Multiple women came forward with accusations of sexual impropriety towards Diddy in the wake of his settlement with Cassie. Diddy denied any wrongdoing in each case.

In response to the controversy, 50 Cent’s production company confirmed to Us Weekly that he would produce a documentary about the accusations.

“The untitled Diddy documentary is in development through G-Unit Film and Television with Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson serving as executive producer,” his rep told Us. “Proceeds from this documentary that G-Unit Film and Television receives will go to victims of sexual assault and rape.”

50 Cent promised via X in March 2024 that the documentary would “break records when this drop[s].”

Netflix acquired the rights to the documentary — titled Sean Combs: The Reckoning — in September 2024. How Music Got Free’s Alex Stapleton was hired as director.

March 2024

Us confirmed in March that Homeland Security raided two of Diddy’s properties amid a federal sex trafficking investigation. (Diddy was not home at the time of the raids.)

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” Diddy’s attorney Aaron Dyer told Us in a statement, denouncing the raids. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”

The investigation came weeks after Jones accused Diddy of sex trafficking in his misconduct lawsuit. The rapper denied the allegations.

50 Cent then revealed his plans to produce a documentary about Diddy and the surrounding allegations. In September, it was revealed that this forthcoming documentary will follow “a complex narrative spanning decades,” series director Alex Stapleton told Variety.

Her statement came days after Diddy was arrested in New York City on September 16 and charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty and denied all charges.

50 Cent subtly addressed Diddy’s arrest in September with an Instagram caption that read, “Here I am keeping good company with @thedrewbarrymoreshow and I don’t have 1,000 bottles of lube at the house.” His caption was in reference to the “more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant” seized by Homeland Security in their March raids.

Since then, 50 Cent has defended calling out Diddy over the years.

“Look, it seems like I’m doing some extremely outrageous things, but I haven’t,” he told People in October. “It’s really me just saying what I’ve been saying for 10 years.”

He added, “Now it’s becoming more full-facing in the news with the Puffy stuff. But away from that, I’m like, ‘Yo, it’s just my perspective because I stayed away from that stuff the entire time, because this is not my style.’”

May 2024

Diddy’s son Christian “King” Combs attacked his father’s detractors in a track played by DJ Akademiks.

“I dare one of you n***** scream out ‘no Diddy,’” King rapped. “All that gossip s*** is wack / When all they had was 50 Cent who put the city on the map?/ Stop lying, pops been hated on by many men and n****, that’s fine/ They gon’ try to stop these Eminems and they gon’ die tryin.”

50 Cent laughed off the diss track by writing via Instagram: “I feel so threatened by the things Christian is saying on his record … I’m afraid for my life, please don’t hurt me guys.”

May 2024

CNN published a hotel surveillance video footage of Diddy kicking and grabbing Cassie at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Diddy apologized for his actions in a video shared via Instagram.

In the apology message, Diddy said his actions were “inexcusable” and he took “full responsibility” for them, before asking for forgiveness because he was “truly sorry.”

“Now I’m sure puffy didn’t do it, ‘he is innocent this proves nothing.’ This is what his lawyers are gonna say,” 50 Cent sarcastically wrote via X. “God help us all.”

September 2024

Diddy was arrested by federal agents at a New York City hotel and subsequently charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution as part of an alleged long-running criminal enterprise. Diddy denied all accusations.

50 Cent reacted by sharing a photo of himself on The Drew Barrymore Show. He mocked the indictment’s reference to “more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant” being seized by Homeland Security agents during raids at Diddy’s properties.

“Here I am keeping good company with @thedrewbarrymoreshow and I don’t have 1,000 bottles of lube at the house,” 50 Cent wrote.

May 2025

Diddy’s federal sex trafficking trial got underway at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Lower Manhattan. 50 Cent trolled Diddy throughout the first week of the trial with various social media posts.

“After listening to today’s testimony. I think the diddler should have took the plea offer,” he wrote. “The s*** they are saying is beyond me, so what do ya think?”

In another post, 50 Cent wrote: “This s*** crazier then regular crazy.”

As the trial progressed, 50 Cent suggested that pro-Diddy protestors had been paid $20 each to rally outside the courthouse in “Free Diddy” T-shirts.

“I might go throw that on for an hour tomorrow. LOL,” 50 added.

May 2025

50 Cent waded into the debate over whether President Donald Trump should pardon Diddy, after the politician told reporters he would take a look at the case.

“[Diddy] said some really bad things about Trump, it’s not OK,” 50 Cent wrote via Instagram. “I’m gonna reach out so he knows how I feel about this guy.”

July 2025

Diddy was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. In October 2025, Diddy was sentenced to 50 months in prison.

50 Cent used a homophobic insult to taunt Diddy after the verdict. He wrote via Instagram: “Diddy beat the [RICO], that boy a bad man. He like the Gay John Gotti.”

John Gotti was a mobster known as the “Teflon Don” because of his ability to dodge legal charges. (Gotti died in prison at age 61 in June 2002 after finally being convicted of murder and racketeering in April 1992.)

October 2025

President Trump confirmed that Diddy’s lawyers had approached his administration about a pardon. Trump reiterated that he would take a look at the case and insisted that Diddy’s previous criticism of his administration would not influence his decision.

50 Cent once again publicly fumed about the possibility of Diddy receiving a presidential pardon. (Diddy is serving his 50-month prison sentence at Fort Dix in Burlington County, New Jersey.)

“Man you can’t get No pardon running ya mouth like that! LOL Get Out of here,” 50 Cent wrote via Instagram.

November 2025

50 Cent announced that his Netflix documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning would release on December 2, 2025. The 50 Cent-produced project will feature four, hour-long episodes examining various controversies throughout Diddy’s career.

“I’ve been committed to real storytelling for years through G-Unit Film and Television,” 50 Cent, who executive produced the series, said in a statement. “I’m grateful to everyone who came forward and trusted us with their stories and proud to have Alexandria Stapleton as the director on the project to bring this important story to the screen.”

Stapleton shared in her own statement that Sean Combs: The Reckoning was partially inspired by her experiences as “a woman in the industry” following the #MeToo movement.

“When Cassie dropped her lawsuit, I just thought this could go a million different directions,” she said. “I wondered how she had the confidence to go out there against a mogul like Sean Combs. As a filmmaker, I instantly knew it was a stress test of whether we’ve changed as a culture, as far as being able to process allegations like this in a fair way.”

The filmmaker went on, “This isn’t just about the story of Sean Combs or the story of Cassie, or the story of any of the victims, or the allegations against him, or the trial. Ultimately, this story is a mirror [reflecting us] as the public, and what we are saying when we put our celebrities on such a high pedestal. I hope [this documentary] is a wake-up call for how we idolize people and to understand that everybody is a human being.”

A teaser for the documentary featured a voiceover from former Bad Boy artist Mark Curry issuing a warning over Diddy’s alleged bad behavior.

“You can’t continue to keep hurting people and nothing ever happens. It’s just a matter of time,” Curry said.

If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.