“LA Times” Finally Retracts Latest “Diddy Knew!” Tupac Expose

anthonyjmiccio | April 7, 2008 10:00 am

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The Los Angeles Times has retracted its controversial March 17 story “An Attack on Tupac Shakur Launched a Hip-Hop War,” which claimed that Sean “Diddy” Combs was aware that Shakur would be attacked in late November 1994, and that the attack was orchestrated by associates of the Bad Boy CEO. The paper acknowledged that it had been hoaxed by its “confidential sources” immediately following a March 27 debunking of the story on The Smoking Gun, but only today did it announce a full retraction of the original article, written by longtime Diddy conspiracy theorist Chuck Phillips.

Among other things, the March 17 article and related Times publications reported that newly discovered information supported Shakur’s claims that associates of music executive Sean “Diddy” Combs orchestrated an attack in which Shakur was injured at the Quad Recording Studios in New York on Nov. 30, 1994.

The information, which came from the purported FBI reports and other sources, said that James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond, a talent manager; Jacques “Haitian Jack” Agnant, a figure on the New York hip-hop scene; and James Sabatino, purportedly one of Combs’ associates, arranged the assault on Shakur because they were angry that he had rejected overtures to sign with Combs’ Bad Boy Records.

The Times now believes that Sabatino fabricated the FBI reports and concocted his role in the assault as well as his supposed relationships with Combs, Rosemond and Agnant.

Consequently, The Times specifically retracts all statements in the article, and in its related publications, that state or suggest in any way that Rosemond, Agnant and Sabatino orchestrated or played any role in the assault on Shakur or that they lured him into an ambush at the Quad studios.

To the extent these publications could be interpreted as creating the impression that Combs was involved in arranging the attack, The Times wishes to correct that misimpression, which was neither stated in the article nor intended.

The Times also reported that Sabatino told Combs in advance that Shakur was going to be attacked. The Times now believes that Sabatino had no involvement in the attack and that he never spoke to Combs about it. Any statements or implications suggesting that Combs was given advance knowledge of the assault on Shakur, or played any role in it, are specifically retracted.

In addition, The Times was mistaken in reporting that Rosemond has served prison time for drug dealing and was convicted in 1996 of drug offenses. The Times specifically retracts those statements.

While there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, one hopes that this is the last time the Times or Phillips will claim to have the answers.

The Times retracts Tupac Shakur story [LA Times]