Joe Budden has expressed strong criticism of Sean “Diddy” Combs after watching the Netflix documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning, stating that the hip-hop mogul deserved a harsher prison sentence.

Speaking on The Joe Budden Podcast, Budden admitted that he became “absolutely pissed” with Combs as early as the second episode of the Alexandria Stapleton–directed docuseries. According to Budden, the documentary significantly reshaped his perspective by presenting a narrative that places much of the blame for historic hip-hop tragedies at Combs’ feet. “It basically blames Puff for Biggie and Pac,” Budden said around the 2:05 mark of the episode. “This piece takes a lot of the reasonable doubt away. They do a good job of laying it at his feet.”

The second episode, titled What Goes Down Must Come Up, explores the possibility that Combs played a role in fueling the infamous East Coast–West Coast rap rivalry—an explosive conflict that ultimately led to the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac. The documentary raises questions about Combs’ influence behind the scenes, suggesting that his actions may have contributed to escalating tensions during one of hip-hop’s most volatile eras.

Budden praised the docuseries for carefully assembling a timeline of events that consistently portrays Combs in a negative light. By the end of the second episode, Budden said his feelings toward the Bad Boy Records founder had already hardened. “I was saying, ‘Fuck him,’ by episode two,” he admitted bluntly.

After finishing the entire series, Budden felt even more strongly that justice had fallen short. “It did make you feel like, at the end, he didn’t get enough time,” he said, reflecting on Combs’ legal outcome.

In October, Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison, with time served, after being found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. However, he was acquitted of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. For Budden, the documentary made those acquittals harder to reconcile with the broader pattern of behavior presented on screen.

Because Budden was the only person on the podcast who had watched the documentary at the time of recording, he was unable to engage in a deeper discussion with his co-hosts. Still, he emphasized that Sean Combs: The Reckoning presented numerous moments where Combs appeared culpable in various situations, even if they did not all result in convictions.

“They showed too much stuff,” Budden said. “It’s like, if you don’t believe this, or if this didn’t do it for you, or if that didn’t do it for you—there’s just too much consistency in the story they’re telling.” According to Budden, the sheer volume and repetition of allegations made it difficult to dismiss the documentary’s implications entirely.