The Los Angeles Times has issued a statement of apology for a
controversial article published March 17, placing Sean “P. Diddy”
Combs and Jimmy “Henchman” Rosemond in the knowledge pool of those
involved in the 1994 ambush on late rap star Tupac Shakur.
The story headlined, “An Attack on Tupac Shakur Launched a Hip-Hop
War” — written by Pultizer Prize-winning Times report Chuck Philips —
failed to provide new information regarding the near-fatal shooting of
Shakur inside Quad Recording studios 14 years ago, but it did cite
exclusive FBI records from an informant who claimed Rosemond, as well
as Combs, were aware of the shooting.
The day the piece was released, both Combs and Rosemond released
statements vehemently denying any involvement in the attack where
Shakur was reportedly shot five times.
“This story is beyond ridiculous and is completely false. Neither
Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during, or after
it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any
involvement by Biggie or myself,” Combs stated.
“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,” Rosemond said, going on to say, “Chuck
Philips, the writer who in the past has falsely claimed that the
Notorious Biggie Smalls was in Las Vegas when Tupac was murdered…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 along with Philips’ motives behind
it. I am baffled as to why the LA Times would print this on its
website when a simple and fair investigation would reveal that the
allegations are false. I am currently consulting with my attorneys
about my legal rights regarding this libelous piece of garbage.”
The Smoking Gun, though, beat Rosemond to the punch. In a story
titled, “Big Phat Liar” Smoking Gun pulled the rug from underneath
Philips' reporting: “The Times appears to have been hoaxed by an
imprisoned con man and accomplished document forger, an audacious
swindler who has created a fantasy world in which he managed hip-hop
luminaries, conducted business with Combs, Shakur, Busta Rhymes, and
The Notorious B.I.G., and even served as Combs's trusted emissary to
Death Row Records boss Marion ‘Suge’ Knight during the outset of
hostilities in the bloody East Coast-West Coast rap feud.”
The week the story was published, Philips vehemently defended it,
telling MTV.com, “I've written a lot about this story because it
fascinates me," Philips said. "I've written about doctors,
politicians, music executives ... all these kinds of stories. So why
would I make up only this story? I've gotten over it. At first it was
shocking to me when people would say that, but they just don't know
what you're doing, and that's their prerogative.”
The documents in question came from James Sabatino, 31, an imprisoned
conman who reportedly filed a $19 million suit against Combs in
October of last year, claiming the mogul never paid him royalties for
a 1994 recording session with the Notorious B.I.G. in Miami.
According to the Times, Sabatino is a promoter who helped orchestrate
the attack on Shakur. The Times released a statement of apology today
for reporting false information.
The Times released a statement of apology today for dropping the ball.
"In relying on documents that I now believe were fake, I failed to do
my job," Philips said in a statement Wednesday. "I'm sorry."
Chuck Philips supervisor, Times Deputy Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin,
said, "We should not have let ourselves be fooled. That we were is as
much my fault as Chuck's. I deeply regret that we let our readers down.”
Times Editor Russ Stanton announced that the paper will be conduct an
internal review of the documents and the story.
"We published this story with the sincere belief that the documents
were genuine,” Stanton said in a statement. “…But our good intentions
are beside the point.”
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Comments
1.
CWill says:
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I miss Pac!
www.smartsexyrichcrazy.blogspot.com
April 1, 2008 at 7:25 am