What Sparked Sean 'Diddy' Combs and 50 Cent's Feud? A Deep Dive Into Their Decades-Long Beef

Sean "Diddy" Combs and 50 Cent's relationship seemed doomed from the very beginning.

Years after the Bad Boy Records co-founder kicked off his career, he appeared on G. Dep's "Let's Get It," where he sang verses that 50 Cent allegedly ghostwrote during a collaboration with Jay-Z.

"I ain't tell him to say that," he joked during an October 2024 appearance on "The Breakfast Club," playfully responding to Combs' lyric, "Send the cops, the D.A., and the feds to come get me."

50 Cent referenced the alleged ghostwriting gig in his track "U Not Like Me," in which he rapped, "H--- be like '50, you so witty'/ On the d--- like they heard I ghostwrite for P. Diddy."

The first cracks in Combs and 50 Cent's relationship began to show when the "In da Club" rapper released the diss track "The Bomb" in August 2006. In the song, he claimed Combs was involved in the murder of The Notorious B.I.G. in 1997.

"Who shot Biggie Smalls? We don't get 'em / They gonna kill us all ... Man, Puffy know who hit that n----," 50 Cent said in the explosive line.

While Combs repeatedly denied the accusations, the TV producer fanned the flames by alleging the embattled hip-hop mogul also had something to do with Tupac Shakur's 1996 death.

The rivals seemingly hinted at a reconciliation when Combs appeared on the remix of 50 Cent's 2007 song "I Get Money," alongside Jay-Z. The trio also joined Kanye West for a performance at Madison Square Garden as part of the Screamfest tour.

Their effort to make peace ultimately failed, and the two artists deepened the rift when they promoted their respective vodka brands: Combs' Cîroc vodka and 50 Cent's Effen Vodka.

"Puff's is not even vodka. It's grapes [and] says 'made with vodka,' you know what I'm saying?" the 13 actor said on the "Drink Champs" podcast amid the "Vodka Wars."

He added, "[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."

In the same interview, 50 Cent said he felt "a little uncomfortable" when Combs asked him to take him shopping.

"I thought that was the weirdest s--- in the world because that might be something that a man says to a woman," he noted. "And I'm just like, 'Naw, I'm not f------ with this weird energy or weird s---,' coming off the way he was just moving. From that, I wasn't comfortable around him."

50 Cent dropped more attacks against Combs in the years thereafter, including the times he shared social media posts claiming the record executive is homosexual.

Even after 50 Cent sent the drama into overdrive, Combs firmly denied any feud was happening.

"Y'all can't see that he loves me? You really think that's hate? You know he loves me," he quipped on "The Breakfast Club."

He added, "Me and him could be friends, but he doesn't want to be my friend. I wanna be his friend so I could teach him everything I know so he could become a better money-getter since I'm the number one money-getter in the world… Yo, 50 please be my friend. 50 you're breaking my heart. Curtis, please be my friend. Please."

When Combs hit rock bottom, his feud with 50 Cent reached an all-time high, as the Escape Plan star continued to attack him amid his legal troubles in 2023.

"Now it's not Diddy do it, it's Diddy done," 50 Cent tweeted after HSI raided Combs' properties. "They don't come like that unless they got a case."

He also reacted to the widely circulated video of Combs abusing Cassie Ventura in a hotel room in 2016.

"First, he denied that it even happened, and then the tape comes out — so that means everything that n---- says is a lie," 50 Cent told an outlet. "When someone watches that, if they have a daughter and they can imagine her being under those circumstances, that s--- is crazy. Like, they let him get away with it."

As Combs' legal headaches mounted, 50 Cent announced his production company, G-Unit Film & Television, would produce a Netflix documentary about the former Uptown Records talent director.

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to give a voice to the voiceless and to present authentic and nuanced perspectives," 50 Cent said in a statement to People after Combs' 2024 arrest. "While the allegations are disturbing, we urge all to remember that Sean Combs's story is not the full story of hip hop and its culture. We aim to ensure that individual actions do not overshadow the culture's broader contributions."

Then, in July, the Expend4bles actor reacted to Combs' conviction on two prostitution-related charges and acquittal of the more serious ones.

"Diddy beat the Rico, that boy a bad man!" he wrote on Instagram. "He like the G-- John Gotti."

50 Cent also slammed Combs when he tried to secure a pardon from President Donald Trump after being sentenced to four years and two months in prison.

"Man you can't get No pardon running ya mouth like that! LOL Get Out of here," he told the scandal-plagued producer.

Before 50 Cent's documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning debuted on Netflix on December 2, the incarcerated hip-hop star said the docuseries was "a shameful hit piece."

Combs' team lambasted the project for giving "creative control to Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson — a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr. Combs." They also claimed Netflix used "stolen footage that was never authorized for release."

"As Netflix and CEO Ted Sarandos know, Mr. Combs has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story, in his own way," the message continued. "It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work."