Controversy over Tupac's death

Sean “Diddy” Combs has denied a report by the
Los Angeles Times that his associates were responsible for the 1994
robbery and shooting of Tupac Shakur at a New York recording studio,
and that he knew about the attack in advance.

“The
story is a lie,” the hip-hop mogul said in a statement Monday. “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.”
The 1994
shooting triggered the celebrated feud between East and West Coast
rappers that led to the killings of Shakur and B.I.G.
The Times said its story was based on FBI
records, interviews with people at the scene of the 1994 shooting, and
statements to the FBI by an informant. None of the sources was named.
The story says associates hoping to curry favor with Combs — who was
overseeing B.I.G.’s white-hot career at the time — lured Shakur to the
studio because of his disrespect toward them.

The
story said that talent manager James Rosemond and promoter James
Sabatino arranged the assault. They and Combs declined to be
interviewed for the story, which appeared on the Los Angeles Times Web
site but not in its paper publication.
Rosemond called the story a “libelous piece of garbage.”

“In
the past 14 years, I have not even been questioned by law enforcement
with regard to the assault of Tupac Shakur, let alone brought up on
charges,” he said in a statement. “Chuck Philips, the writer ... has
reached a new low by employing fourth-hand information from desperate
jailhouse informants along with ancient FBI reports to create this
fabrication. I simply ask for all rap fans and fans of Tupac to analyze
this fiction for what it is.”
The
story, written by Chuck Philips, was the first investigative report
published as a Web exclusive, said Meredith Artley, editor of
LATimes.com.
“This
piece was perfect for the Web,” Artley said. “The Web audience skews
younger. We had all these great multimedia elements, and we said we
really don’t need to wait to fit this in the paper.”