Newly discovered information in the November 30, 1994, unsolved shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur at NYC’s Quad Studios alleges that the failed assassination of Shakur was masterminded by a pair of Sean “Puffy” Combs‘ associates, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to the investigation, talent agent James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond and promoter James Sabatino orchestrated the attack because Shakur rebuffed offers to leave Interscope Records for Combs’ Bad Boy Records.
Unaware of Rosemond and Sabatino’s plans, Shakur went to Quad Studios thinking he was going to get $7,000 to record a vocal track for rapper Little Shawn’s album, which Rosemond was producing. Instead, Shakur was met in the building’s lobby by three assailants (allegedly hired by Sabatino), who proceeded to first rob the rapper, then shoot him three times, once in the head, hand and thigh. (Shakur accidentally shot himself in the groin when reaching for his own weapon.) The three assailants then made off with Shakur’s $40,000 chain to make it look like a robbery. Shakur wasn’t killed, however. Bleeding badly, he limped his way into the elevator and up to the tenth floor, where the studios were housed.
The hierarchy of Bad Boy Records (including Combs) was in the studio recording the debut Junior M.A.F.I.A. album, and when Tupac reached the tenth floor, he accosted Rosemond by asking, “Why you let them know I’m coming here?” Shakur, with four bullets in him, then “sat on a couch and rolled a joint” before paramedics arrived. Shakur would survive the attack, but the violence escalated, ultimately claiming the lives of Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Sabatino is currently serving an eleven-and-a-half year prison sentence for wire fraud and racketeering, while Rosemond is the president of Czar Entertainment, which represents rappers Too $hort, Gucci Mane, Shyne and the Game.
UPDATE: In a statement emailed to Rollingstone.com, Jimmy Rosemond said “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. 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.”
[Photo: Paniccioli / Retna]
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