An interview with the late rapper Tupac Shakur, recorded a year before his murder, is reigniting conspiracy theories about Sean "Diddy" Combs' alleged involvement in the crime.
Combs was arrested at a New York City hotel on September 16 and detained without bail on charges including sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation for prostitution.
After his arrest, social media users have reanalyzed his connections with other public figures, such as Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez, and Tupac.
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When asked whether he thought Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, was involved in the 1994 attack where he was shot five times at a New York studio, Tupac responded, "I have proof. Things that I could say that could back up my claim, but this is not for the world to know.
"It's between me and him, and only he knows."
On November 30, 1994, two years before he was murdered in Las Vegas, the legendary rapper was robbed and shot in the lobby of Quad Studios in Times Square, where he had gone to record a song with Little Shawn.
The late rapper suggested that Combs had been involved in the 1994 shooting that Tupac survived at New York's Quad Studios
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Speaking with Vibe Magazine in 1995, Tupac expressed his surprise at the lack of reaction from other rappers that were present at the studio after the attack, including Combs and Notorious B.I.G.
"I pressed the elevator button, turned around, and that's when the dudes came out with the guns-two identical 9 mms," said the late rapper, adding that the shooters "knew" him.
"They were snatching my sh*t off me while I was laying on the floor. I had my eyes closed, but I was shaking, because the situation had me shaking….I felt them kicking me and stomping me; they didn't hit nobody else."
"It's between me and him, and only he knows," Tupac said when asked about Combs' alleged link to the shooting
Image credits: VIBE Magazine
"Nobody approached me. I noticed that nobody would look at me. Andre Harrell wouldn't look at me. I had been going to dinner with him the last few days. He had invited me to the set of New York Undercover, telling me he was going to get me a job.
"Puffy was standing back too. I knew Puffy. He knew how much stuff I had done for Biggie before he came out."
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In 2008, Combs denied having orchestrated the attack. "The story is a lie, it is beyond ridiculous and completely false," the hip-hop mogul stated.
"Neither the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during, or after it happened."
After the robbery, Combs and Notorious B.I.G. released a track titled Who Shot Ya?, which Tupac interpreted as a mockery of the Quad Studios incident. He later responded with the diss track Hit 'Em Up, which contained references to both rappers as well as their record label, Junior M.A.F.I.A.
According to a court document, P Diddy allegedly provided $1 million for the assassination of Tupac.
Davis was not the gunman who fired the fatal shot but was described as the group's ringleader by authorities, the AP reported. In Nevada, you can be charged with murder if you help someone commit the crime.
Duane Davis, who was charged with murder in the drive-by killing of Tupac, claimed that Combs said he would pay to have Tupac and Death Row Records executive Suge Knight killed
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"He suggested that Sean Combs paid Eric Von Martin a million dollars for the killings as well as offered to set up a surreptitious phone call with Terrence Brown, the driver, who, at the time, was still alive," Clark County court documents read, as per Fox News.
Davis reportedly told investigators that Combs said he would "give anything for that dude's head," referencing Death Row Records executive Suge Knight, who was in the car with Tupac on the night of the murder.
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Eminem joined the controversy in 2018 by suggesting a connection between the murder of Tupac and Combs in his song Killshot.
In the track, he raps, "Kells, the day you put out a hit's the day Diddy admits that he put the hit out that got Pac killed, ah!" before adding, "And I'm just playin', Diddy, You know I love you."
Combs has never been charged in connection to the murder.
A public information officer for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told People Magazine on July 24, 2024, that "Sean Combs has never been considered a suspect in the Tupac Shakur homicide investigation."
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"This story is beyond ridiculous and completely false," Combs told AllHipHop.com in 2008 about the claims that he had knowledge of Tupac's death.
"Neither Biggie [Smalls, the late rapper] 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."
Watch the late rapper speak about Combs in an interview with Vibe below
Image credits: VIBE Magazine
Tupac Shakur, born Lesane Parish Crooks, was fatally shot on September 7, 1996, by an unidentified shooter in Las Vegas. The attacker pulled up next to the rapper's vehicle in a white Cadillac and shot him four times. Tupac died in hospital six days later at the age of 25.
His death has sparked multiple conspiracy theories, one of which involves his friend-turned-rival, Notorious B.I.G., with whom Tupac had a public feud. Other theories point to Suge Knight, the owner of the record label Tupac was signed to, who survived the attack on the car.
Bored Panda has contacted Sean Combs' representatives for comment.
People shared their theories about whether Combs was behind Tupac's murder
