A few weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times published a so-called investigative report on the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur - not the incident that led to his death, but the one before that in which the late, great star was shot five times, pistol-whipped and left for dead outside of the Quad studios in New York. The report, which was released on March 17 claimed that Diddy, the Notorious BIG, Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond, and son of a mobster Jimmy Sabatino had prior knowledge of the attacks and might have even orchestrated the hit.
Nonetheless, "Diddy" ferociously denied that he had any prior knowledge or involvement in the attacks, labeling the report, "beyond ridiculous and completely false."
He continued to add, "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...I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story,"
Soon thereafter, CEO of Czar Entertainment, Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond, did the same - denying any involvement whatsoever and threatened a lawsuit, "I ask for all rap fans and fans of Tupac to analyze this fiction for what it is...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."
Needless to say, both men were highly upset. About a week and half later, it was found out that the documents that provided the information for these exclusive reports were forged and fabricated by a convict -- none other than James "Jimmy" Sabatino, son of a Captain in the Colombo Crime Family and former business partner of Diddy and Henchmen. Sabatino said that he was there on that day and he also filed a lawsuit against "Diddy" and Bad Boy some time ago for unpaid money.
As previously reported in my previous post, Sabatino is currently serving a 12 year sentence for fraud and racketeering, among many other offenses. The FBI found this information out by reckless mistakes on Sabatino's behalf, such as the misspelling of words like "making" were spelled “makeing" - (side note: smh at misspelled words like that). Additionally, the FBI said that the fake documents were created on the same typewriter used to create Sabatino's lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs.
The LA Times issued a statement saying that they are holding their own investigations as to where the reports were created. Later, the LA Times and award-winning writer Chuck Phillips both apologized for the incident that could have ruined the reputations of both moguls (Diddy and Jimmy Henchmen).
In relying on documents that I now believe were fake, I failed to do my job...I'm sorry," Phillips said. Sabatino, who is now 31, said that he got the documents from the FBI for a separate case.
"We should not have let ourselves be fooled...I deeply regret that we let our readers down," said the Deputy Managing Editor of the LA Times said.
"I now believe the truth here is that I got duped," Phillips said. "For this, I take full responsibility and I apologize."
Shortly thereafter, Rosemond issued another statement that these false claims put both he and his family at danger, "While we are gratified that the L.A. Times has acknowledged basing their article on fabricated FBI reports, their apology does not go far enough," Rosemond’s lawyer Jeffery Lichtman told popular website allhiphop.com.
Additionally, Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur has broken her silence, stating "We will continue to work to save the lives of our young people and to offer peaceful alternatives to violence... that is what we have done since the murder of my son, and that is exactly what we will consciously continue to do."
Despite the fact that it is clear that Afeni is trying to keep everything peaceful, labeling it as a misunderstanding, Henchmen's lawyer, sees the situation a tad bit different. Lichtman said, "The fact is that Chuck Phillips placed Mr. Rosemond and his family in a potentially dangerous situation due to his actions which amounted to more than mere neglect: his actions were done with reckless disregard for the truth and for that the L.A. Times will be held responsible."
Something tells me that we haven't heard the end of this just yet.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Diddy denies LA Times/Phillips reports; Contemplates lawsuit
A few weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times published a so-called investigative report on the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur - not the incident that led to his death, but the one before that in which the late, great star was shot five times, pistol-whipped and left for dead outside of the Quad studios in New York. The report, which was released on March 17 claimed that Diddy, the Notorious BIG, Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond, and son of a mobster Jimmy Sabatino had prior knowledge of the attacks and might have even orchestrated the hit.
Nonetheless, "Diddy" ferociously denied that he had any prior knowledge or involvement in the attacks, labeling the report, "beyond ridiculous and completely false."
He continued to add, "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...I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story,"
Soon thereafter, CEO of Czar Entertainment, Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond, did the same - denying any involvement whatsoever and threatened a lawsuit, "I ask for all rap fans and fans of Tupac to analyze this fiction for what it is...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."
Needless to say, both men were highly upset. About a week and half later, it was found out that the documents that provided the information for these exclusive reports were forged and fabricated by a convict -- none other than James "Jimmy" Sabatino, son of a Captain in the Colombo Crime Family and former business partner of Diddy and Henchmen. Sabatino said that he was there on that day and he also filed a lawsuit against "Diddy" and Bad Boy some time ago for unpaid money.
As previously reported in my previous post, Sabatino is currently serving a 12 year sentence for fraud and racketeering, among many other offenses. The FBI found this information out by reckless mistakes on Sabatino's behalf, such as the misspelling of words like "making" were spelled “makeing" - (side note: smh at misspelled words like that). Additionally, the FBI said that the fake documents were created on the same typewriter used to create Sabatino's lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs.
The LA Times issued a statement saying that they are holding their own investigations as to where the reports were created. Later, the LA Times and award-winning writer Chuck Phillips both apologized for the incident that could have ruined the reputations of both moguls (Diddy and Jimmy Henchmen).
In relying on documents that I now believe were fake, I failed to do my job...I'm sorry," Phillips said. Sabatino, who is now 31, said that he got the documents from the FBI for a separate case.
"We should not have let ourselves be fooled...I deeply regret that we let our readers down," said the Deputy Managing Editor of the LA Times said.
"I now believe the truth here is that I got duped," Phillips said. "For this, I take full responsibility and I apologize."
Shortly thereafter, Rosemond issued another statement that these false claims put both he and his family at danger, "While we are gratified that the L.A. Times has acknowledged basing their article on fabricated FBI reports, their apology does not go far enough," Rosemond’s lawyer Jeffery Lichtman told popular website allhiphop.com.
Additionally, Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur has broken her silence, stating "We will continue to work to save the lives of our young people and to offer peaceful alternatives to violence... that is what we have done since the murder of my son, and that is exactly what we will consciously continue to do."
Despite the fact that it is clear that Afeni is trying to keep everything peaceful, labeling it as a misunderstanding, Henchmen's lawyer, sees the situation a tad bit different. Lichtman said, "The fact is that Chuck Phillips placed Mr. Rosemond and his family in a potentially dangerous situation due to his actions which amounted to more than mere neglect: his actions were done with reckless disregard for the truth and for that the L.A. Times will be held responsible."
Something tells me that we haven't heard the end of this just yet.
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