If Peacock’s untimely try to doc the Diddy debacle is any indication of the felony trial to return, then Sean Combs is in for a hell of a media circus.
The earliest in a sequence of upcoming true crime tasks centering the disgraced rapper, “Diddy: The Making of a Unhealthy Boy” began filming shortly after Combs’ arrest on September 16, 2024. It hits streaming on Tuesday amid ongoing pretrial issues and options new interviews with a number of individuals near the case — together with Combs’ childhood pals, two accusers, a former bodyguard, opposing authorized representatives, hip-hop journalists, and extra — in a manufacturing in any other case notable for its editorial incoherence.
Proper now, Diddy’s protection staff is awaiting particulars on three federal fees outlined in a surprisingly brief indictment from final fall. These embody intercourse trafficking, transportation to have interaction in prostitution, and racketeering: a sprawling and sophisticated declare associated to an alleged felony enterprise that if confirmed would have spanned many years. Combs’ legal professionals are arguing with the prosecution over fast-approaching deadlines, and because the former A-lister awaits subsequent steps at a jail in Brooklyn, specifics in regards to the sexual abuse Diddy is accused of facilitating proceed to select up steam throughout tabloids and on social media.
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The Grammy winner’s trial is ready to start on Might 5, however scads of civil lawsuits are more likely to transfer ahead within the verdict’s wake. With the previous billionaire having been denied bail, time could also be of the essence to the protection. And but, “Making of a Unhealthy Boy” is proof that the popular culture dialog round Diddy ought to be paced as a marathon — not a dash. To combine metaphors as badly as this doc overcomplicates Combs’ case by tackling the subject too early and from too many angles, this analysis is so disorganized that the story resembles one thing akin to deranged lobbyists throwing spaghetti on the wall by a shotgun.
The result’s a sloppy canine pile indicative of the grueling yr forward Diddy, witnesses, and the court docket can have going through these deeply troubling claims. The documentary additional recaps not simply the handfuls of allegations presently going through Combs, however various key occasions from his checkered previous. There’s criticism surrounding the rapper’s position within the 1991 Metropolis School crowd crush; conspiracies surrounding his data of the murders of Tupac and Biggie; extra unproven accusations in regards to the mysterious loss of life of ex-partner Kim Porter; and an impassioned consideration of the alleged tried homicide of Al B. Certain! from the singer himself, who seems whereas explicitly sharing hesitation about that alternative.
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The significantly bewildering strategy taken right here might appear like foreshadowing for a possible authorized protection. (The documentary options Diddy’s so-called “internal circle,” is sympathetic sufficient to the defendant, and “complicated the jury” is a standard tactic amongst protection legal professionals who’re determined to seek out cheap doubt.) However after a meandering feature-length effort, the underbaked Peacock undertaking lastly will get round to letting somebody really name Combs a “piece of shit” earlier than permitting one other to immediately examine him to Devil. Viewers who don’t make it previous the primary business break ought to be forgiven for mistaking it as a pro-Diddy effort. (Good friend Tim Patterson is given a very broad berth on the outset to debate Combs’ upbringing, and the psychological risks of Diddy’s fast skilled ascent are expanded upon by home violence knowledgeable Dr. Carolyn West.) However ultimately, there’s no mistaking that this documentary crew is predicting tough instances forward for Diddy and his defenders.
True crime audiences have an nearly bottomless urge for food for fact-heavy case summaries and “Making of a Unhealthy Boy” works effectively sufficient in that context. The silhouette of an nameless accuser describing a terrifying gang rape allegedly involving Diddy is unforgettable, and notably, it contains her recounting the failure of native police to sufficiently examine her the criticism she filed that evening (as corroborated by the lady’s lawyer). Civil rights legal professional Lisa Bloom, who’s representing one other plaintiff suing Diddy, successfully contrasts this case together with her work on the Jeffrey Epstein trial. And the make-up artist for Cassie, the pop singer who settled an explosive lawsuit with Diddy, her ex-boyfriend, in late 2023, particulars an altercation she witnessed between the couple at a resort in Los Angeles.
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With main celebrities from throughout Hollywood swirling round Combs’ case (Donald Trump seems in an previous {photograph}), many viewers desire a succinct primer on this breaking information story now. These specific topics run by Diddy’s biography and clarify, for instance, the distinction between his star-studded White Events and the salacious idea of “freak-offs” tidily, however they will’t overcome an unserious construction that so clearly tries to pack an excessive amount of into too little time. The nonlinear narrative strategy doesn’t assist both with editors steadily going by the fallen icon’s life story step-by-step through chapter headings… earlier than randomly leaping ahead to explain disturbing trendy contentions at will.
This primary-past-the-post tactic in producing a doc on Diddy actually begins to fail Peacock when the complexity of those allegations overwhelm the very query “Making of a Unhealthy Boy” ostensibly units out to reply — however doesn’t have the info or thoughtfulness to help. How did this dangerous boy get made? Nobody right here appears to actually know and, because the voice of an off-camera producer factors out, it principally doesn’t matter. Nonetheless, the calamitous effort ought to inform the prosecution and the protection how to not form their arguments for the court docket, at the same time as public opinion fees forward to make a large number of its personal.
“Diddy: The Making of a Unhealthy Boy” premieres solely on Peacock on January 14.