Combs Attacks Times Article

Hip-hop entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs has denied a report by Chuck Philips of the Los Angeles Times that his associates were involved in attacking Tupac Shakur in 1994.

The Times obtained FBI records that said two hip-hop figures – talent manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond and promoter James Sabatino – enticed Shakur to the Quad Recording Studios in New York, where three assailants, reputedly friends of Rosemond, ambushed Shakur.

The rap star always maintained the attack was associated with Combs, and the ambush contributed to the bicoastal hip-hop war that resulted in Shakur’s death in Las Vegas years later.

"The story is a lie," Combs said in a statement. "It is beyond ridiculous and completely false. Neither [the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.] nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. … I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."

Rosemond called the story a "libelous piece of garbage."

"In the past 14 years, I have not even been questioned by law enforcement with regard to the assault of Tupac Shakur, let alone brought up on charges," he said in a statement. "Chuck Philips, the writer … has reached a new low by employing fourth-hand information from desperate jailhouse informants along with ancient FBI reports to create this fabrication."