Tupac‘s brother has alleged that Diddy has been dishonest about his apparent lack of connection to the rapper’s murder in 1996.
READ MORE: Who killed Tupac? Everything we know about hip-hop’s greatest mystery
In September of last year, Duane “Keffe D” Davis was charged with the late rapper’s murder, 27 years after he was fatally wounded from a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. The former gang leader was charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon in connection to the attack.
Earlier this month, Tupac’s family began investigating Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ alleged link to his murder. Davis had previously claimed that Combs offered him $1 million to kill Shakur. Per People, a DEA and U.S. Department of Justice report on a 2008 interview with Davis said he had claimed Combs said he “needed to get rid of [Suge] Knight and Shakur” and offered Davis the money to “handle the problem.”
Combs has never been charged in connection to the murder. Per the Guardian, in 2008, Diddy denied any connection to the shooting after an LA Times report alleged his associates, James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond and Jimmy Sabatino, helped stage a robbery of Shakur after offering the late rapper $7,000 to record a track at the studio on the night in question.
“The story is a lie,” he said in a statement in response. “It is beyond ridiculous and completely false. Neither [the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.] nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story.”
Maurice Mopreme Shakur has now revealed that he doubts the truth of Combs’ statement.
“My opinion is that I don’t believe it was a 100 percent honest statement,” Mopreme Shakur said in an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored. “So, again, we gotta find out what’s true and what’s false. What’s real and what’s fake.”
He added that he had met with Combs years after Tupac’s death. “[He] basically said he had nothing to do with my brother’s murder. I told him, ‘The truth is still yet to come out, so we’re going to see.’ Here we are, 27, 28 years later, it looks like there’s some doubt in that statement, along with all the other suspicions that people have.”
Asked if Combs was lying, he responded: “Quite possibly and it’s kind of looking that way, in my opinion.”
Combs’ rumoured connection to Shakur’s death has become a recurrent theme in pop culture – most recently in Eminem‘s JID collaboration on ‘The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)‘ track ‘Fuel’.
In the song, he raps: “Notorious B.I.G.’s death was the domino effects of Tupac’s murder, like facial tissue, who’s clock should I clean next? Puff’s? ‘Til he’s in police handcuffs, guilty, will he step up?”
Last month, Diddy was arrested in New York and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transporting for prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Diddy was then denied bail despite offering a US$50million bond and was reportedly placed on suicide watch as he awaits trial, though his attorney Marc Agnifilo told TMZ that the directive was issued as a routine measure for “new, high-profile inmates”.
Other reports suggested that he was not eating in prison out of fear of being poisoned. The bail denial meant that the rapper has been ordered to remain in jail while awaiting trial.
Diddy’s attorney Agnifilo shared that an appeal against the bail denial has been filed, with the musician promising that he won’t be meeting any women apart from his family members, and that he would partake in weekly drug tests if released from prison.
As emerged earlier this week, Diddy is now also potentially facing new lawsuits from around 120 people accusing him of sexual abuse and assault, including 25 minors.
Diddy’s trial has been set for May 5, 2025.
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