Journalists Investigate A Possible Link Between Diddy And Tupac Assault
  Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Image via wikimedia / David Shankbone

In 1994, Tupac Shakur was left beaten and suffering gunshot wounds at Quad Recording Studios in New York.  At the time, Tupac said that friends of rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs (Diddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, what-have-you) ordered the hit.  Last week, The Los Angeles Times published an article that revealed "newly discovered information" that supported Tupac's affirmations, including a possible motive to punish Tupac for disrespecting Diddy and rejecting business offers.

But TheSmokingGun, a site that has made quite a name for itself by revealing mugshots and court documents galore, followed up these allegations with no way - the LA Times was tricked.  Federal inmate and con man James Sabatino, who SG calls a rap devotee and "overweight white kid from Florida" could have fabricated FBI reports and duped the Times in order to link Diddy to the '94 ambush of Shakur.

Today, LA Times Editor Russ Stanton said he will launch an internal investigation into the authenticity of their documents and sources, to find out if Sabatino was in fact involved in providing misinformation, or if there is credence to the notion that Diddy could have been involved.

Diddy said in a statement, "This story is beyond ridiculous and 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."  Diddy's attorney, Howard Weitzmen, demanded a retraction from The Times, but it was not granted.

Well, good for The Times!  How are journalists supposed to investigate anything when they're threatened by big-shot attorneys?

UPDATE: The Times Apologizes Over Article

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