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.

New Info on Tupac and Jam Master Jay Shootings: Are all deaths releated in some way?

There is a new break in the 1994 Tupac Shakur shooting in front of a recording studio in New York in which he was pistol whipped and shot five times. According to the Los Angeles Times, two associates of hip-hop entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs are responsible for the attack. According to a future article, author Chuck Phillips writes that Diddy was notified in advance of the planned ambush on Shakur. In fact, Phillips also writes that Diddy was in the same building as the studio is in - at the same time! The attack went down in the lobby, and according to the article, Diddy was on the 10th floor with over 20 of his associates. Many pundits and fans agree that this particular shooting was the single event, if there were any, responsible for the future attacks on Tupac (which led to his death) and a possible retaliatory attack on Biggie, which led to his as well. Two of his associates included son of a well known mobster in the Colombo Crime Family, James "Jimmy" Sabatino and CEO of Czar Entertainment, Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond. Nonetheless, Phillips claims that the hit had no involvement with the mob. Sabatino is currently serving 12 years in federal prison for racketeering and wire fraud and it is rumored that shortly after the attack on Tupac, he introduced Diddy to some mobsters in New York. So how does Chuck Phillips know all this? Phillips used his rights to attain FBI records, more than likely, via the FOI (Freedom of Information) Act. Conclusively, Phillips told allhiphop.com, "I don’t believe that Biggie and Puffy set Tupac up [to be shot]," Phillips said. "According to these people I have interviewed and according to these documents, they knew about it," he said. "But they didn’t know they were going to get shot. They knew he was going to get beat up. Then it kind of went haywire when it all happened." The article surfaces to mainstream media tomorrow (March 17) and can be accessed on the Los Angeles Times website, or by clicking here http://www.latimes.com/tupac. In a twist, this particular case ties in with the murder of Jam Master Jay a.k.a. Jason Mizell, who was assassinated on October 30, 2002. One of the men present when Shakur was shot, Randy "Stretch" Walker, was later gunned down in Queens, New York on November 30, 1995 - exactly a year and a day after Tupac was shot those five times in New York. Sources have long stated that Walker's alleged murderer, Ronald "Tinard" Washington, was also one of the men suspected of acting as a lookout when Jam Master Jay was shot. In a slight chance of hope, a New York federal grand jury is currently investigating a series of unsolved Hip-Hop and rap-related crimes, including the 1994 Tupac shooting in New York. Allhiphop.com contributed as a source of information to this report.

Rappers and Athletes: Targets for Violence

More and more examples of how hip-hop/rap artists and athletes are targets for violence, especially armed robberies and attempted murders. Most hip/hop artists and athletes are black, too - and therefore, the reality of the situation is that it isn't the easiest path for them to get a firearm for protection without a gun permit that only allows that firearm to stay within a particular amount of distance from their properties. The latest example of this happened Monday night to hit producer, Pollow the Don. According to reports and allhiphop.com, Pollow was in his Atlanta recording studio when some masked gunmen broke in and robbed everyone of their jewelry and money. But Pollow, who didn't have much of anything concrete to say, said this to the hip-hop based website, "These crack head a** ni***s I guess called themselves robbing me, but we robbed them…I wasn't scared I was mad. I was likes "these dumb a** weak ass n****s."

I can digg the shirt

The ambiguity of the statement has me wondering, not only was this an inside job but maybe Pollow isn't telling the whole truth, he also added this: "You gone have to shoot me because until then, I dont believe you. I am a man…and nine times out of ten a n***a calling himself a ‘robba‘, a ‘thug’ or a ‘gangsta’ is a cover up for being too weak (weather it be physically, spiritually or mentally) to be a man. It's hard to learn how to be a man…luckily my teacher stuck with me....thanks Dad, I love you! Kids…do you know where your father is right now?" Although what the previous quote indicates is true, the influence of a father in a young man's life speaks measures, it still sounds like he might have been set up but the perps couldn't carry through with their plan. Sticking to Pollow the Don, he is apparently producing a number of tracks for a new T-Boz album, who is rumored to have Pharell Williams on some tracks, too. In other news and acts of violence, a couple of weeks ago, I'm sure you heard, Juvenile's four year old daughter was gunned down by her own stepbrother who then took the life of his 11 year old sister and his own mother. The 17-year-old, Anthony Tyrone Terell Jr. is charged with 3 counts of murder and aggravated assault. Juvenile apparently missed his own daughter's funeral because he didn't want to take away from it because of his star power. This baffles me, because not only is Juvenile no longer nor ever was a "star" - it is his daughter's funeral. To me, you have to show up and show respect to her, fans, and family, regardless of the conditions. In a twist, it is rumored according to allhiphop.com that Juvenile showed up to a concert party in Augusta, Georgia. In more violence-related issues, Prodigy finally started serving his three-year sentence for a gun charge. One of Lil Wayne's felonies included a drug charge for cocaine, now Wayne is claiming that he didn't have that much on him and foul play might be involved - stay tuned. The rumors about a movie about the late Christopher Wallace, titled "Notorious" are true and a Brooklyn rapper got the gig to play Biggie, peep the article from the Hollywood Reporter, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i9a2f1e72ad0ce6f3129f803f2158d362 Check out the casting video, provided by the New York Times >> that's how you know it's a big deal! Peep the comical twist toward the end of video, too http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=f72f587b2389953a17c08be0f46299bc2ca0fad9 More on the way, until then...

Eliot the Trick & History in NY

As I pay attention to the news wire each and every day in news, sports, music, culture, and lifestyle I'm noticing that it is pretty difficult to keep up with daily occurrences in each respective category. With that said, I'm willing to try my best - but help is more than appreciated to take it to the top...digg me!? Lets begin with important issues first, and there is so much going on I might have to split the post up into two or three separate ones. Politics I bet you know what I'm going to write about first. Unless you've been hibernating, you know about the sex scandal that is surrounding NY Governor, Eliot Spitzer - engulfing and ultimately ending his political career as we know it. To make an exceedingly long story a tad bit shorter, Spitzer, shortly after he began his run as governor, implemented a law that allowed the FBI to monitor bank transactions that suspiciously exceed $10,000 all at once or within an specific amount of days. A bank reported suspicious activity by none other than the Spitz-man. His apparent arrogance allowed him to ignore the chance that the Feds might be on to the same man that implemented the law. Even more ironic, is that his entire campaign was devoted to having and maintaining a clean slate in a time where politicians get their dirty laundry aired out like times before dry cleaners. The feds were on to him for money laundering of taxpayer dollars but it wasn't exactly money laundering - he was using the money to spend on high-end prostitutes/call girls. Investigators said that Spitzer could have spend as much as $80,000 on prostitutes over an extend period of time. Monday, investigators reported that according to a wiretap, Spitzer threw $4,300 towards the Emperor Club VIP, a call girl service in Washington and for a night with a call girl, Kristen. Reports also indicate that this isn't the first time for Spitzer, instead he's a consistent customer. To make matters worse, reports indicate that Spitzer preferred not to wear protection as he ran up in the prostitutes (how backwards is that!?) However, it should be noted that the money could have been Spitzer's own, however, as he is an heir to a successful New York based real estate developer and reported about $1.9 million in earned income to the IRS in 2006. He has not been charged just yet. According to MSNBC, "On Wall Street, where Spitzer built his reputation as a crusader against shady practices and overly generous compensation, cheers and laughter erupted Monday from the trading floor when news broke of his potential ruin." Spitzer resigned on Wednesday morning and his replacement, Lt. Gov. David Patterson make history as the first Black Governor in New York history (I'm sure some NY folk [especially some central/upstate] residents aren't going to like that and can't wait until it's election time in 2010). A Brief Introduction of Gov. Patterson

Gov. Patterson (left), Sptizer (right)

• Patterson is 53 years old and blind in one eye, buy can still walk/do work unaided
• Elected out of Harlem and has served as an elected official since 1985
• Gov. Patterson is well respected by all politicians and is a lot less partisan than is predecessor, which might allow for work to actually get done
• Former NYC mayor Ed Koch called Patterson very capable and mentioned how his near-sightedness has never allowed him not to get his work done
• Is one of only 3 Black Governors since Reconstruction
• Good relationship whit Sen Joe Bruno (R-NY) - who was Spitzer's main opponent

On a side note, it's possible that Patterson's respect and apparent work ethic and diplomacy will actually allow good things to pop off for the state of New York - one can only hope.

G-Unit and Papoose vs. Fat Joe

Papoose and Fat Joe have a little high school beef with Cassidy in the middle of the situation and 50 Cent is the mediator of the situation, LOL. Essentially, Papoose and Cassidy were chillin' at a hotel - they were all on the same floor when Fat Joe came in the room and approached Pap., and according to Papoose, he "put his work in" as he popped Joe in face a few times...because he from Brooklyn, apparently, here's what Papoose had to say about the situation: (Side Note: Don't be surprised if 50 signs Papoose - he was dropped from Jive) Did he say he was from Brooklyn? I missed that... Fat Joe's side of the story: Everyone knows that 50 and the G-Unit don't think too highly of Joey Crack, when 50 Cent recently filled in for DJ Clue on the radio station, Power 105.1 in New York, 50 essentially called him a useless rapper and said about his newest track, "I Won't Tell" featuring J.Holiday, "Fat Joe just sucks...If you just muted his vocals and let him (J.Holiday) sing on the track, everyone would like the song." 50 continued to say that it's all right though because "he only gave us two verses that time, usually he kills us with the third verse - but we were saved this time, he only gave us two." Fat Joe responded by saying that he wants to fight 50 and offered to fight him plenty of times over the four years that they've been going back and forth, "I just wanna bust those new teeth out his (expletive) mouth." (LOL)...soon after Fat Joe said his piece, 50 came right back 50 and the G-Unit also came out with a couple of tracks directed towards Fat Joe - they really are making him not right now, Joe might wanna push his album back so he could add a few diss tracks on it so even more people could cop it...just food for thought. Oh, and I don't know if Fat Joe would really want to fight 50, I mean, 50 has Floyd Mayweather (the generation's best boxer) in his corner, I don't know how good it looks for Joe, but like he said, he's a warrior. Fat Joe and 50 go back and forth G-Unit - "I'm Leavin" G-Unit - "Rider pt.2" (Cameo by Papoose) Additionally, there is a rumor out that suggest that while 50 Cent will be with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on March 30 at the WWE's (aka WWF for my generation)Wrestlemania XXIV, Fat Joe plans to confront 50 Cent. That wouldn't be a good idea to crash their party with real violence to give hip-hop an even worse name. Apparently, Fat Joe's new album "Elephant in the Room" will only have 11 tracks. With album sales droppin week by week, more and more artists are trying to save money by only putting 11-12 tracks on their LPs - Fat Joe is no excuse -- but 50, Jay-Z, and Kanye are they had 18, 15, and 17 tracks on their albums, respectively. Additionally, not for nothing but it sounds like Lil Wayne and Rick Ross either had an influence on him for this album or ghostwrote some tracks or he just took their flow. Fat Joe "The Fugitive" (a decent track) Fat Joe feat. Lil Wayne "The Crackhouse" (decent track) Fat Joe - "Coca Baby" (pretty good) Fat Joe feat. DJ Khaled & Cool and Dre"Get it for Life" (pretty good) Fat Joe feat. Swizz Beatz - "Drop"(pretty good) Fat Joe feat. J. Holiday - "I Won't Tell" (pretty good) Fat Joe "K.A.R. Kill All Rats" (ehh) Fat Joe "300" (alright) Fat Joe - "Preacher on a Sunday Morning" (good) Fat Joe - "Thank God for that White" (alright)

Lakers Establish Themselves as a Major Contender

The amount of substantial moves in the NBA this season has been the most that I've seen in recent years. It proved just how important superstars are to their franchise on and off the court, and probably most importantly when owners look at their revenue.

• First, Kobe Bryant threatened to leave, almost everyone expected him to opt out after this year - he was begging for help - and he got it. The additions of Trevor Ariza and Pau Gasol and the arrival of Andrew Bynum makes the first place L.A. Lakers a real threat in the league. They also have pretty good wing players in Luke Walton and Lamar Odom. Let's hope that Bynum doesn't rush his comeback and when he does comeback, he's back at 100% - the kid is under 20 years old, I'm suspecting he'll be fine. The only thing this squad is missing is a proven solid PG and the sky will be the limit for the Lakeshow. Things have just been working in their favor, give those guys a A+.

• The ultimate losers this season have to be the Memphis Grizzlies. Yup, the Memphis Grizzlies, not the Miami Heat or the New York Knicks - the Memphis Grizzlies. They're obviously planning a reconstruction and their management seems to be in shambles ever since Jerry West (one of the best GMs to bless the front office) stepped down. Whenever you lose Pau Gasol, but "gain" Kwame Brown...you've got a major problem. D

• The Miami Heat made a move they had to make - or did they? The trade was excellent in the aspect of giving up not so much for a lot. Shaq is on the horizon of retirement but still poses a threat to anyone in the paint, can still grab boards, defense is still there, and rarely anyone is going to want to challenge him the paint. Shawn Marion is the most underrated superstar in the league, the guy does everything well and will provide a great dose of everything that the Heat needs and Marcus Banks is good, too - it's just difficult playing behind Steve Nash and Barbosa for much of the beginning stages of your career. I'm expecting the Heat to develop decent chemistry but they still need a big man - maybe their hoping Earl Barron to be their Andrew Bynum. B+

• The Atlanta Hawks made a good move that will put them in serious post-season contention by acquiring PG Mike Bibby from the Hawks for four players including Tyronn Lue, former starter Anthony Johnson and sophomore Shelden Williams. But Bibby is recently coming off of an injury and hasn't been able to put it all together like he used to. We'll see how the talented Hawks all play together, it would be good to see them put it all together for once. B

• The San Antonio Spurs made their usual close to nothing move by getting rid of Francisco Elson and acquiring Kurt Thomas. B-

• In another "ask and you shall receive" situation, Lebron James got some much needed help in Cleveland by adding Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith, and Delonte West to their roster. Defensively, this is a great improvement for the Cavs. As far as the "O" goes, let Lebron take care of all of that. B

• The Supersonics simply got nothing in return for what they gave, Donny Marshall and Ira Newble, giving Kevin Durant even less support...C-

• The Nets gave up a proven superstar that helps everyone around his excel for a few role players and a retiree. This now puts more pressure on Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter to make the team theirs and carry them to wherever they lead them. B-

• The Suns acquired Shaq for Shawn Marion...not a good trade for the Suns, Shaq will inevitably get injured and that'll be the end of that...there's no D.Wade on the Suns. C

• The Kings don't have a quality PG now with the exception of Anthony Johnson (if you want to call that quality) and John Salmons, who is always good for 5 turnovers per game. C

• The Mavs definitely upgraded, their offense will flow like the days when they had Steve Nash on their squad, but now inside presence is a bigger issue than ever. B+

• The Bulls got it all wrong by getting rid of Joe Smith and Ben Wallace for Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes - Hughes can't do anything on the court that no other guard on Chicago can and Ben Wallace and Joe Smith for Drew Gooden is just plain wrong. C

We'll see what the future holds for all of these teams, it's going to be an exciting second half of the NBA season

The O'Reilly Factor

Bill O'Racist-I mean O'Reilly

...And I'm not talking about the Fox News show. Instead, I'm talking about how majestic it is that this man still has a job after his over the top blatant racists comments on the regular - might I add. Anywhere from suggesting population control for minorities so that Whites can stay the majority, to his condescendingly racist comments about restaurant customers in Harlem, it is no secret that Mr. O'Reilly is a racist. Recently, O'Reilly accused Sen. Barack Obama's wife of being unpatriotic and said "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there is evidence, hard facts that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels - that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever - then that's legit...We'll track it down." But what makes it worse is because other people in that same position, don't get away with it - we've seen the Golf Channel reporter, Kelly Tilghman say that the only way Tiger Woods' opponents would have a chance of beating him would be to "lynch him in a back alley." Woods forgave her and didn't take much offense, Tilghman was suspended. Great controversy has surrounded idiots that like to flaunt nooses and they've all been reprimanded but how come Bill O'Reilly gets away with so many of his racist remarks and doesn't get punished. I yearn for the day he publicly confronts Blacks or any other ethnic group on the streets. Michelle Obama originally said she hasn't been more proud of this country until now, here is the clarification. Bill O'Reilly Quotables (as late as 2003, I'm sure a lot more crazy comments has surfaced from then)

• "Does anyone know where the Best Men are? I hope they're not in the parking lot stealing our hubcaps." (the Best Men are a performing group who live in the inner city of Washington D.C.)

• On Immigration: We'd save lives because Mexican wetbacks, whatever you want to call them, the coyotes--they're not going to do what they're doing now, all right, so people aren't going to die in the desert."

• "The most unattractive women in the world are probably in the Muslim countries."

• On Black athletes suing over minimum academic standards for college participation "Look, you know as well as I do most of these kids come out and they can't speak English."

• "We have black leaders in this country who blame everything on whitey, everything's the system's fault, and that gives a built-in excuse to fail and act irresponsible. 'Oh, I can't get a job. Whitey won't let me,' or 'I can't get educated. The teachers are bad, so I'm going to go out and get high and sell drugs. That's the only way we can make money here.' You know what I mean? And it's a vicious cycle."

• (America)"must realize that racial demonization is now organized and well-funded, and it will not end until everyday people begin condemning it." He wasn't talking about himself, though; he was referring to critics who label him a racist.