One of the vital explosive moments in Sean Combs: The Reckoning entails friends-turned-rivals Tupac Shakur and The Infamous B.I.G., each of whom had been murdered on the peak of their fame. How their tales intertwine with Sean Combs’ personal is detailed by numerous people within the documentary, together with Tupac’s cousin, William Lesane, former Unhealthy Boy artist Mark Curry, former LAPD detective Greg Kading, and former member of the Mansfield Crips D1. These tales are echoed by Kirk Burrowes, a long-time former colleague and pal of Combs, who took contemporaneous hand-written notes in journals.
“From Day Zero, I wrote all the pieces down, day-after-day, so I may maintain observe of all the pieces I wanted to do,” says Burrowes within the documentary. “I ran all the cash, all of the budgets for the corporate, in addition to so much for his private life, and all that got here with it.” Director Alexandria Stapleton says the journals had been a goldmine: “He had possibly 30 bins of these journals. We pulled them out of storage, and certainly one of my producers actually took them to her place, and we simply scanned and scanned and scanned and scanned.”
Former Unhealthy Boy Leisure co founder Kirk Burrowes whose 2025 civil go well with towards Combs continues to be pending.
Burrowes’ accounts of his time at Unhealthy Boy Leisure inform a narrative of a startling transformation that befell in 4 brief years, starting and ending with the label’s relationship with The Infamous B.I.G., often called Large or Biggie. Biggie was a rising star on the newly discovered label, and he’d developed a friendship with Tupac based mostly on mutual respect and admiration.
“Sean was insanely jealous of Biggie and ’Pac’s friendship,” Burrowes says within the documentary. “For Sean, being a marketer — you’re a manipulator. And there’s envy for individuals who have success [and] fame, with no manipulation.” As Tupac and Biggie’s fame grew, their friendship turned sophisticated with public shows of East vs. West Coast hostility between gamers from Unhealthy Boy Leisure and Dying Row Information, who Tupac ultimately signed with. Tupac was killed in September 1996 in a drive-by capturing in Las Vegas after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match. Six months later, Biggie was killed in a drive-by capturing in Los Angeles.
The East Coast–West Coast rivalry has grow to be a part of hip-hop lore, partially pushed by the truth that no arrests had been made till 2023, when Duane “Keffe D” Davis — described within the documentary by former LAPD detective Greg Kading, who investigated each murders, as a outstanding Crips drug seller — was indicted for Tupac’s homicide. (Davis has pleaded not responsible in that case.)
“It’s actually Keffe D and Puffy Combs are the final males standing,” says Kading within the doc. In 2023, investigators provided Keffe D mitigated sentencing if he cooperated with legislation enforcement throughout a proffer session, through which any self-incriminating data wouldn’t be used towards him in a felony prosecution. Through the taped session, which is performed within the documentary, Keffe D reveals {that a} 12 months earlier than Tupac’s homicide, Combs allegedly made a normal announcement throughout a celebration in “a complete room filled with Crips” that Combs would give something for Suge Knight and Tupac’s loss of life. Keffe D additionally alleges that, in a separate event, Combs provided a $1M bounty for his or her deaths.
Furthermore, the proffer session tapes additionally embrace audio of Keffe D. describing a compartment that Eric Von “Zip” Martin — described within the documentary as a drug lord from Harlen who Burrowes alleges he was informed was Combs’ uncle — had hid a gun in his automotive, which Kading says was reportedly pushed in from out of city. Burrowes’ journals include entries throughout an occasion that befell a number of days earlier than Zip’s arrest through which Combs had requested that they hire vehicles to journey from New York to Las Vegas to attend the battle — an uncommon request, given the space and inconvenience. Regardless of being confused concerning the logistics, Burrowes organized the leases and famous the bills in his journals, that are proven within the documentary.
Burrowes stored hand-written notes whereas on the job.
A detailed-up on a web page of Burrowes’ notes noting automotive leases made in August and September, 1996.
Sean Combs has repeatedly and forcefully denied any involvement within the loss of life of Tupac Shakur. He has by no means been charged with any crime in connection to the case. On the time of filming, Keffe D is about to face trial for the homicide of Tupac Shakur in 2026. He now claims the proffer was made below duress. No arrests have been made in reference to the homicide of The Infamous B.I.G.
“With Sean, typically you’re humiliated. Typically you’re made an instance of. Typically violent issues occur to you,” he states within the documentary. “By way of the years, a variety of unhealthy issues occurred to good buddies.”
The start of the tip for Burrowes’ time at Unhealthy Boy Leisure stemmed from Biggie’s contract, which had simply been renegotiated shortly earlier than his homicide. As described within the documentary and in his civil go well with towards Combs, Burrowes alleges that Combs needed the contract to be altered to be extra favorable to Unhealthy Boy Leisure by changing pages of the signed settlement with out anybody else’s data. Burrowes declined; 90 days later, he was fired.
In 2003 Burrowes sued Combs over his affiliation with Unhealthy Boy, and the case was dismissed. In 2025 he filed one other go well with that remained pending on the time of filming.
Since his firing and the 2003 lawsuit, Burrowes describes an expertise through which he struggled to take care of his profession. “For 25 years, I used to be principally blacklisted and banned. Subsequent factor — shelters, homelessness,” he says within the doc. As we speak, Burrowes tells Tudum that regardless of the battles, he’s been arduous at work on TV and movie tasks, and has a brand new firm, Pop Life Leisure: “I’m again, stronger than ever, with unbelievable tales to inform and the infrastructure to make them actual.”
Says Burrowes, “This second, this platform, is one thing far higher: It’s my alternative to lastly converse my fact. Guided and empowered by my Lord and Savior, I stay steadfast. The battle will not be over, however neither am I.”
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