How Sean 'Diddy' Combs ruined The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur's friendship out of jealousy

Everything "got blown out of proportion" after Shakur was shot five times in a New York City recording studio in 1994.


Pop Culture & Art May 30, 2024
Image: Reuters/ Instagram

Sean "Diddy" Combs was jealous of the close friendship between Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. in the years leading up to their deaths.

A Rolling Stone article published on May 28 interviewed numerous former friends and colleagues of Combs, revealing new details about the Bad Boy Records founder's alleged abusive behavior over the years.

In one story, former Bad Boy partner and president Kirk Burrowes mentioned that Combs, 54, felt slighted when Shakur and Biggie became friends.

“There was someone on the sidelines, jealous,” Burrowes said, referring to Combs.

Biggie was signed to Combs' Bad Boy Records, while Shakur was with the rival Death Row Records. The article noted that although Combs was "fond" of Shakur and attempted to befriend him, the West Coast rapper was not interested.

“Pac didn’t have any kind of respect for Puff,” hip-hop photographer Monique Bunn told the outlet, explaining that he thought of Combs as a “corny executive,” and saw Biggie as his equal.

Bunn stated that everything "got blown out of proportion" after Shakur was shot five times in a New York City recording studio in 1994. The rapper believed that Combs and his Bad Boy crew had orchestrated the attack.

Tension escalated between Shakur and Biggie, and in September 1996, Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at the age of 25. Less than a year later, Biggie was also fatally shot in Los Angeles at the age of 24.

Bunn also informed Rolling Stone that Biggie intended to depart from Bad Boy shortly before his passing. “I know for a fact [because] he told me that,” she explained.

Combs is currently facing sexual assault and sex trafficking lawsuits, along with property raids in Los Angeles and Miami in March as part of a Homeland Security inquiry.

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