The family of Tupac Shakur has hired an attorney to investigate any connections between his murder and the now-disgraced rapper, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
It comes after years of speculation around the links between the two rappers, and amid the continued fallout following Combs’ bombshell arrest on sex trafficking charges last month.
Now, it’s being reported that powerhouse celebrity lawyer Alex Spiro has been enlisted by the Shakur family to look into whether Combs had any involvement in the death of Shakur, who was gunned down at just 25 years old in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas back in 1996.
While the murder case has been the source of much speculation among hip-hop fans, it remained unsolved with minimal leads for decades, at least until September of last year.
At that time, suspect Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis was arrested and charged in connection to Shakur’s death, and ahead of his trial next year, Davis claimed Combs offered him $1.4 million (AUD) to murder the “California Love” rapper. Now, Spiro is reportedly tasked with finding the links between Combs and Shakur that prosecutors and detectives never could.
While Combs — who is currently in prison awaiting a trial in the sex trafficking case — has not yet responded to reports about Spiro’s investigation, he has denied similar accusations in the past.
Back in 2008, after The Los Angeles Times published a story claiming Combs’ associates were responsible for Shakur’s death, the music mogul shared a statement refuting the allegations.
“The story is a lie,” Combs said. “It is beyond ridiculous and completely false. I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story.”
The LA Times later retracted the story after discovering it was based on partially false documents.
More recently, the alleged connection between Combs and Shakur was referenced in “Fuel”, the JID-featuring song released by Eminem in July.
“Tupac’s murder, like facial tissue,” Eminem raps in the song, “who’s clock should I clean next? Puff’s?”. That same track also makes references to the sexual assault allegations levelled against Combs’.
The Shakur family’s hiring of Spiro — who has elsewhere represented the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Jay-Z, Elon Musk and Alec Baldwin — comes after a flurry of new developments in Combs’ case.
This week, it was reported that Denzel Washington once put the rapper on blast during one of his infamous parties, while Costco denied Combs lawyer’s suggestion that he purchased the baby oil used for “freak-offs” at their stores.
Lead image: Ron Galella/Getty Images and Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images
