Alexandria Stapleton may be a new name to many who are discovering her following the release of Netflix‘s Sean Combs: The Reckoning, which she directed and executive produced. But she’s hardly a newbie to the industry.
Stapleton is a director and producer whose career spans more than 15 years. Across that time, she’s explored subjects across sports, music, pop culture, and social justice. Before she collaborated with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson on the smash hit documentary about the rapper and music mogul Combs, she directed an episode of the three-part HBO documentary God Save Texas, her home state, and the Paramount+ doc How Music Got Free, which she produced with SpringHill and Eminem. Some of her documentary subjects she’s explored include Roger Corman, Reggie Jackson, and Chelsea Handler.
We recently spoke to Jackson, who sings Stapleton’s praises for her work on Sean Combs: The Reckoning, and their working relationship. For example, she would show footage she was working on, and he would share insight into what was going on in the world of hip hop at that time.
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Netflix released the documentary on Tuesday, December 2. Deadline caught up with Stapleton the following day, just shortly after the streamer confirmed that the project had hit No. 1, where it has remained and spread to the top of the charts globally.
All four parts of the docuseries are available to stream now.
DEADLINE: Congratulations on all your success. I opened up an email this morning that said the documentary hit No. 1, which is a feat in and of itself, especially as the first part of the final season of Stranger Things is also at the top of the charts. What is your reaction to this news?
ALEXANDRIA STAPLETON: It’s very surreal. Very surreal. I needed to believe 50, whom I told that I’d feel very blessed to be in the Top 10. I woke up this morning to my phone going crazy, and I was like, “Wow!” It’s a testament to our amazing team that put this together because we worked so hard, and to the voices we spotlighted, as well.
DEADLINE: Would you say this proves there’s a hunger for programming like this and for your approach to keeping the story balanced?
STAPLETON: I’m just starting to reflect on it, because it’s just been nuts. I think that this was the only [documentary] that was made by people from the culture. 50 and I, this is our culture, you know, the culture of hip hop. Being a Black woman making a film like this, I took the opportunity very seriously. We wanted to make something for people like us, but that could also speak to a broader audience. With the viewership being what it is, it’s crossing barriers, which was our goal. I’m hearing reactions from people who say they didn’t know about a lot of the stuff we covered, or who even really knew much about who [Combs] is.
Not to knock outsiders making things, because that can also be an incredible experience, but I think the nuances and some of these details were overlooked in past projects, because [those involved] weren’t really considering the culture.
DEADLINE: Following the release of the documentary, Combs threatened legal action over the explosive footage your team acquired that showed him in the days leading up to his arrest. How would you say this speaks to the strength of what was released in the documentary?
STAPLETON: I don’t know what’s in his head or why he’s reacting the way that he is. I couldn’t answer that. But we all could see that when the project came out, it included things that were probably a surprise to him. I don’t know how to really answer that, but I think that perhaps he, or someone in his camp, was able to see that this was going to be a different project.
DEADLINE: I was surprised to see the murders of rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie, Notorious BIG) covered in the doc, because I didn’t think there was anything new left to report. How did you tackle finding new information about a topic that’s been covered extensively?
STAPLETON: I agree with you. I have seen a million things done on this subject matter as well. I didn’t know when I started this that it was going to be a part of it. I was conducting interviews, meeting people, and doing research on other things when it began to pull me in. I think it hits different for a few different reasons, like how the storytellers here are people you recognize, [while in other docs] you hear the same version of the story from the same people. The other is that people underestimate the power of telling a story in chronological order and researching the events that led up to it. It’s been mostly about how the three hated each other, but nobody took the time to dig deeper beyond Vegas or the Source Awards, like going back to how Suge Knight worked with Andre Harrell and knew Sean [Combs]. Suge had been Al B. Sure’s bodyguard. People don’t understand how much Suge Knight was tied into that world.
DEADLINE: There’s certainly still a need for new information. In 2023, just shy of three decades after Shakur’s slaying, Duane “Keefe D” Davis was arrested and charged with the rapper’s murder. His trial is set for February.
STAPLETON: I think when Keefe D was arrested, that made some noise, but people were still lost in it. His story still hasn’t been entirely told on a big platform, as of yet.
DEADLINE: In the final episode, you spotlight producer Lil Rod and Bad Boy co-founder Kirk Burrowes, both of whom have alleged that Combs mentally, physically, and sexually abused them. Lil Rod was unable to share the extent of his claims, whether from fear or anxiety, or possibly something else. Burrowes shared a bit more but was visibly shaken. Why was it important to amplify their voices, especially in those moments when their voices were shaking?
STAPLETON: It was very important for every alleged victim here to share their truth. But I think when you’re talking about the world of hip hop, and the kind of tropes of how hip hop handles sexuality, it’s complicated. For both of them, and especially in my conversations with Kirk, I think that they understood that [what allegedly happened to them] has nothing to do with sexuality. Sexual violence against any gender shouldn’t be tolerated. I hope this film will help the community become a more open place and that there is more acceptance of victims.
DEADLINE: Yes, because men can be victims too.
STAPLETON: Yeah, and men should feel okay to share their stories as part of their healing process if they choose to. Perhaps there will be people who are going to watch this who find peace from seeing Kirk and Lil Rod sharing their stories. With all the alleged victims here, we didn’t push them for details.
DEADLINE: I was at a party the other night, and everyone was discussing The Reckoning. The word “fearless” kept coming up when talking about you, not only for your willingness to tackle this particular subject, but also for knowing how dangerous the exploration could be. How do you feel about the word “fearless” being used to describe you?
STAPLETON: I think sometimes it ebbs and flows. I do believe that by the nature of the content and what people were sharing with me and understanding their fear, definitely, I have had moments where it would be natural for me to have fear. But I have so much faith in audiences and the community and people. And I think the more that, as a documentarian, we choose to do films like this, what helps me to shed my fear, is understanding that when people are siloed and can’t share stories, it feels like, “Oh, I’m alone, and I’m the only person that knows this.”
A lot of people who are in this series lived in fear because they were siloed, their voices were muted and silenced, and they were cut off from a community of people. In the aftermath of the indictment and the arrest, people are starting to find each other. My role is just to put this together and present it to an audience so that we can all pull back the layers and understand that there was more to this story. The best way to combat fear was for me to make the film.
DEADLINE: When we last spoke before the premiere, you said you’d consider tackling another Diddy project in the future if everything aligned. In discussing the possibility of further exploration for a new project, the general consensus was that you will probably call it a day after this. What say you?
STAPLETON: I think I would be willing to. There are a couple of parts of the story that I would love to know more about and to work on further. The story has all these different offshoots, places that you can go because it covers so much in so many decades. There are a couple of other worlds that I think would be interesting to get into, but right now I need a little rest and to finish up some other projects.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.