Topline

In a new lawsuit, a woman accuses disgraced music mogul and federal inmate Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping her in 2018 in retaliation for her claims that Combs was involved in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur been indicted on charges.

Important facts

Why do some believe Combs was involved in Shakur's murder?

Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996, and there have long been rumors of his involvement with Combs, although a connection has never been proven and Combs has never been charged in connection with his murder. Two years before his death, Shakur was shot five times at Quad Recording Studios in New York, one of the biggest incidents in the East-West rap rivalry in which Combs and his Bad Boy Records represented the East while Shakur was one was the main site of the West. Shakur told Vibe Magazine in 1995 that after he was robbed and shot by three gunmen in the lobby of Quad Studios, he took the elevator upstairs where there were about 40 people, including Combs and his protégé The Notorious BIG . Shakur said, “Nobody would look at me,” and Combs also “resigned.” Combs denied being involved in the shooting in a 1996 interview with Vibe, accusing Shakur of knowing who shot him and using Combs as a scapegoat. In a 2008 Los Angeles Times report, which was later retracted after it was revealed to be based on forged FBI documents, reporter Chuck Philips claimed that Combs staged the 1994 shooting, which Combs denied in a statement . Shakur's murder remained a mystery for a long time until Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former leader of the South Side Crips, was arrested in September 2023, years after he admitted in a 2019 memoir that he was in the car, from which the shots were fired that killed Shakur. People reported in July that court documents say Davis told police in 2009 that Combs said he “had to get rid of Shakur” and Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight, who was in the car with Shakur, and offered Davis $1 million US dollars to “solve the problem”. .” Davis has been charged with murder for allegedly providing the gun and giving the go-ahead to the killing and is scheduled to stand trial in March.

What did Combs say about the Shakur murder conspiracy?

Combs has repeatedly denied any involvement in Shakur's murder. “Neither (the late rapper Notorious BIG) nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after the attack,” Combs said in a 2008 statement. In an interview on Charlamagne Tha God's “The Breakfast Club.” In 2016, Combs again called the allegations “nonsense.”

What did Shakur's family say about Combs?

Shakur's family reportedly hired New York attorney Alex Spiro to investigate Combs' alleged role in Shakur's murder earlier this month. Shakur's brother, Mopreme Shakur, told Piers Morgan last week that he did not believe Combs was “100% honest” when he said in 2008 that he had no prior knowledge of an attack on Shakur. Mopreme Shakur did not accuse Combs of being involved in the murder but said “it needs to be investigated.”

Who accused Combs of being involved in Shakur's assassination?

50 Cent and Eminem have both accused Combs of being involved in Shakur's murder. In an October 2023 Instagram post, 50 Cent said, “Pac was hemmed in by brotherly love,” referring to Combs by one of his nicknames and advising him to “get involved as a lawyer.” 50 Cent also said on stage that same month that Combs “had Tupac killed.” In his 2018 song “Killshot,” Eminem accused Combs of “putting out the hit that killed Pac,” and in his 2024 song “Fuel,” he doubled down on that statement.

What else does Parham's lawsuit allege?

In her lawsuit, Parham describes an altercation between her and Combs after the alleged gang rape, in which Parham says she confronted Combs while secretly brandishing a knife she found in Pearce's kitchen and tells Combs that he raped her . Combs allegedly offered Parham money and instructed her to say the rape was consensual and that she was a sex worker. Parham claims that Combs said he had “got away with crimes greater than this and referred to Tupac again,” at which point Combs' bodyguard, dubbed Doe 1, “pointed his gun at him and demanded that he repeat what he had said in.” Referring to Tupac, Parham claims she tried to grab the hand of the bodyguard who was holding the gun, at which point the gun fired, hitting a hill behind Pearce's residence. Parham's lawsuit states that Combs ran up the stairs nearby and she lunged at him with the knife, pushed him to the ground and intended to stab Combs but fled after he pleaded for his life. Parham claims that Combs chased her, which led her to graze Combs' stomach with the knife. She fled into the street and went to a neighbor to call the police. She later spent the night at Pearce's house after Combs and his entourage left. Parham claims Pearce soon began driving a new car, which she claims was “a payment from defendant Diddy for orchestrating plaintiff's rape.”

Important background

Combs is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he is awaiting trial on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He faced a wave of lawsuits alleging sexual assault — all of which he denied — starting with a quickly settled lawsuit filed by his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura last November. This week he was sued six more times in New York federal court on sexual assault charges by plaintiffs represented by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee. Buzbee said earlier this month he would represent 120 accusers whose sexual assault allegations against Combs date back more than 20 years and will be filed in multiple states.

Further reading

Sean “Diddy” Combs' celebrity ties – including Usher, Bieber, J. Lo – under scrutiny (Forbes)

Six New Lawsuits Accuse Sean “Diddy” Combs of Sexual Misconduct: Here Are All the Major Allegations and Latest News (Forbes)