The release of ‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning‘ has continued to ignite strong reactions from those closest to the music mogul, including his mother, Janice Combs, and stylist-turned-cultural-architect Misa Hylton, who both dispute narratives presented in the four-part Netflix project.
The film features allegations regarding Combs’ upbringing, his early Bad Boy Records relationships, and family dynamics that, according to Janice, paint a deeply inaccurate portrait. In a lengthy statement shared with Deadline after the docuseries’ Dec. 2 premiere, she pushed back on claims that she was abusive toward her son or complicit in harmful behavior.
“I am portrayed as an abusive parent. This is untrue,” she wrote. “I raised Sean with love and hard work, not abuse.”
Janice said she worked three and sometimes four jobs to support her son in New York, describing Sean as “a respectful and diligent child” and “an industrious, goal-oriented overachiever.” She also addressed a specific allegation shared in the series—that Sean slapped her following the 1991 City College tragedy, where nine people died at a promotional event connected to Heavy D and Combs.
“The allegations stated by Mr. Kirk Burrows that my son slapped me … are inaccurate and patently false,” she said, calling the retelling “wrong, outrageous and past offensive.”
Janice further claimed that comments made by Burrows represent “salacious” attempts to force a revisionist history around Bad Boy’s founding.
“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.”
She ended by requesting that those statements be publicly retracted.
While Janice defended her relationship with her son, Misa Hylton—mother of Combs’ eldest child, Justin—responded to heightened scrutiny surrounding her family after the documentary aired. Hylton posted (and later deleted) an emotional Instagram message addressing speculation fueled by former bodyguard Gene Deal and commentary in the film. The Shade Room reposted her message, where she wrote:
“The harassment my son and I have been dealing with because of things implied by Gene Deal and stated in a recent Netflix documentary has been heartbreaking.”
Hylton pushed back on unnamed rumors directly affecting her and Justin, writing that both have been dragged into “a cruel game built on rumors and agendas.”
“The truth is: the public is being misled about me and my child,” she wrote. “The saddest thing is that none of this affects the people spreading it — it only hurts me and my son.”
She acknowledged posting reluctantly—and temporarily.
“This will be a post and delete,” she wrote, closing with #protectwomenandtheirchildren, clarifying that her message was “about Misa and Justin ONLY.”
Additional reactions to the doc continue across social media and coverage platforms, including another Instagram post from Hylton, which hinted that she had been approached to do a show about her personal journey.
Hylton dated Combs in the early days of Bad Boy and gave birth to their son, Justin Combs, in 1993. The first episode of the docuseries includes extensive details about their relationship, including disturbing allegations that he once had to be pulled off of her during a physical altercation. Producers of the documentary note that while they reached out to Misa about the relationship, she did not respond for comment.
As the cultural and legal storm around ‘The Reckoning’ widens, those who once stood closest to Combs are increasingly stepping into the spotlight— some who seek to validate the documentary’s narrative, while others, like Janice Combs and Misa Hylton have openly challenged it.
