“The bottom line is that the documents we relied on should not have been used. We apologize both to our readers and to those referenced in the documents and, as a result, in the story. We are continuing to investigate this matter and will fulfill our journalistic responsibility for critical self-examination.”
Shakur, one of rap’s rising singers, survived a beating and gunshot wounds to the groin, head, hand and thigh at the Quad Recording Studios in New York City in 1994 but was killed in 1996 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
The Smoking Gun story — posted at http://www.thesmokinggun.com — said the FBI documents were created by one of the subjects in the Times’ report, James Sabatino, who is now in jail for wire fraud and racketeering.
The documents have black marks covering the name of the agent or agents who prepared them, appear as if parts were created using a typewriter and “are nowhere to be found” in the FBI’s computer system, according to The Smoking Gun.
DETAILED ACCOUNT
The Times story, which first appeared on its Web site on March 17 and days later in print, gave a detailed account of the 1994 attack on Shakur.
At the time, Combs was one of rap’s biggest producers with his Bad Boy Records housing stars like the Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace).
The 1994 attack ignited a widely reported feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers that eventually led to the 1996 killing of Shakur. Six months later, Wallace was shot and killed in Los Angeles.
Neither of the murders has been solved. The identity of Shakur’s attackers at Quad Studios has never been revealed.
The Times story cited “recently obtained” FBI records and an unnamed FBI informant as saying Sabatino and talent manager Jimmy Rosemond planned Shakur’s assault. Combs and Wallace knew Shakur was being set up, the Times said.
In its story, the Times said it contacted the FBI informant and verified he was at Quad Studios on the night of the assault. It said other sources verified the informant’s account.
Rosemond’s attorney, Marc Lichtman, was quoted by the paper on Wednesday as saying that Philips and his editors should “take out their checkbooks — or brace themselves for an epic lawsuit.”
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