Belizean politician and former rapper Shyne recently weighed in on 50 Cent’s docuseries about Sean “Diddy” Combs, saying that he won’t watch it because he doesn’t want to “traumatize” himself and reawaken the negative experiences he had with the convicted music executive.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, the four-part documentary, titled Sean Combs: The Reckoning, lays out the “story of a powerful, enterprising man and the gilded empire he built — as well as the underworld that lay just beneath its surface,” per Netflix.
Shyne, who was previously signed to Combs’ Bad Boy Records label, touched on the documentary during an appearance on The Breakfast Club, per Complex. The 47-year-old explained why he decided to steer clear of the documentary, though he heard positive reviews about the project.
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“You know, I saw Alex, that directed the film,” the Bonnie & Shyne rapper said about the documentary’s director, Alex Stapleton. “Alex said she did reach out to me. She probably did, but I saw her. Congratulations to her. She was nominated for a Director’s Guild Award. I didn’t see the documentary. I heard that it’s great, it’s powerful, it’s award-winning worthy. I heard I was in the documentary, even though I didn’t speak, but obviously, they told the truth about what I’ve been saying, so nothing that I’m saying is different than what I’ve said before.”
Shyne also emphasized that he didn’t want to watch the documentary because “that’s my trauma.” “So, without getting into what he did to Cassie and what he did to all the other people that have accused him, I knew what he did to me as far as sending me to prison,” he added.
Shyne, born Moses Michael Levi Barrow, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in June 2001 on assault, reckless endangerment, and gun possession charges for a 1999 shooting incident at Club New York. Three people were injured in the aftermath of the shooting.
Combs was dating Jennifer Lopez at the time, and they were both in the club at the time of the shooting. Combs was, however, acquitted on gun and bribery charges in connection with the incident, XXL reported. Shyne was released from prison in 2009 and deported to his native Belize.
Though Shyne was adamant about not watching the documentary, he said that he felt the pain of the victims, especially Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie. He also stated that he was going to give the victims’ allegations the benefit of the doubt because he was similarly in their shoes.
“So I feel the pain of the victims, Cassie in particular, and everyone that went through what they went through,” the 47-year-old said. “Everything that anybody could say, I know to be a fact, right? Even if it’s not a fact, I know the potential, and the same way nobody wanted to believe me. I’m not gonna be that person and disbelieve those victims. I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt. I’m sorry, because he did it to me.”
Shyne made mention of his The Honorable Shyne film, and touched on how it was different from the Diddy documentary.
“I told my story. I didn’t tell the Diddy story,” he said, per Complex. “That’s the beautiful thing about my documentary. If I only saw my own documentary twice, I’m definitely not watching the Diddy documentary to traumatize myself. There’s nothing I could gain from that.”
Despite his issues with Combs, Shyne refused to rejoice over the embattled music executive’s predicaments. He said he prays that Combs turns over a new leaf.
“I don’t want him to be in the position he’s in, but I know what he’s capable of,” Shyne said. “I pray that Diddy rehabilitates, that he reformed. Maybe he should be glad that God sat him down… maybe this is a blessing for him.”
