Tupac Shakur’s family are investigating Diddy’s alleged link to the late rapper’s murder.
- 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.
Davis had previously claimed that Diddy 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.”
As was confirmed by Billboard, Shakur’s family has now hired New York attorney Alex Spiro to investigate an alleged link between the rapper’s death and Diddy, real name Sean Combs. Spiro is one of the entertainment world’s leading lawyers, having recently represented Alec Baldwin in the ‘Rust’ shooting trail.
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.”
His 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.
Earlier this week, 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.
Per Rolling Stone, prominent Texan lawyer Tony Buzbee held a virtual press conference on Tuesday (October 1), where he shared that of the 120 alleged victims, 60 were men and 60 were women. Among these 120 people, 25 were minors at the time of the alleged abuse, with the youngest alleged victim aged nine-years-old.
According to Buzbee, the nine-year-old alleged victim had met with Diddy at his Bad Boy office in Manhattan for an audition and was “trying to land a record deal” in a competitive process that included “other boys” when he was allegedly sexually abused by Diddy and “several other people at the studio”.
Buzbee has reportedly acknowledged the statute of limitations, but has also said that New York and California will likely recognise the “majority” of the 120 cases. He added that all 120 alleged victims “intend to bring civil claims in civil court” against Diddy and potential co-defendants including alleged accomplices, silent bystanders and “corporate entities”.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Diddy’s lawyer Erica Wolff said the musician “emphatically and categorically denies” the allegations. “As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus,” she said.
“That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors.
“He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court if and when claims are filed and served, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
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