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P. Diddy may have paid for Tupac's murder — new testimony emerges
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Duane Keith "Keffe D" Davis, the only person ever charged in the 1996 shooting of Tupac Shakur, has claimed that music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs once offered a $1 million bounty to kill Shakur and Death Row Records founder Suge Knight.
This was reported by USA Today.
New court files revive old claims against Combs amid new lawsuits
Court records and long-hidden law enforcement files, recently made public, shed new light on Davis’s claims and the violent East Coast–West Coast rivalry that defined 1990s hip-hop. While the allegations have resurfaced through both criminal filings and civil lawsuits, Combs has consistently denied any involvement in the rapper’s death.
The deadly night in Las Vegas
On September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas, Shakur was gunned down in a drive-by shooting while riding in a car with Knight. Shakur died days later; Knight survived with minor injuries. Davis, who prosecutors say helped orchestrate the attack, now awaits trial. He maintains he should have immunity because of prior cooperation with investigators.
According to records reviewed in multiple cases, Davis told federal agents years ago that Combs had privately expressed a desire to see Shakur and Knight killed. Davis has since walked back parts of his story, including claims made in his memoir Compton Street Legend, but the allegations remain central to his upcoming trial.
Civil suits revive allegations
Combs, 55, faces a wave of lawsuits unrelated to Shakur’s killing, many of which also reference the decades-old murder. Former associates have claimed Combs bragged about ordering the hit or even helped finance the car used in the shooting. His attorneys have dismissed these lawsuits as baseless attempts at extortion.
One lawsuit filed earlier this year by former Bad Boy Records executive Kirk Burrowes alleges that Combs arranged for rental cars tied to the Las Vegas attack. Another complaint from a male escort claims Combs used Shakur’s death as a threat during their encounters. Combs’s legal team has categorically denied these accounts.
A rivalry that shaped hip-hop
The deaths of Tupac Shakur and his East Coast rival Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G., became defining tragedies of the 1990s rap scene. Shakur had been aligned with Death Row Records and the Bloods street gang, while Wallace performed under Combs’s Bad Boy Records, which had connections to the rival Crips.
Investigators have long suspected the gang rivalry escalated into deadly violence, though only Davis has ever been formally charged. Wallace’s murder in Los Angeles in 1997 remains unsolved.
Combs’ ongoing legal troubles
Although Combs has never been considered a suspect in Shakur’s case by Las Vegas police, he recently faced federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and related crimes. He was acquitted of the most serious counts but convicted on two lesser charges, with sentencing expected in October.
His defense team has pushed back hard against all allegations, calling the cases "fabricated attempts to extort" money. They argue that his acquittals undermine the credibility of civil claims tying him to Shakur’s killing.
What’s next
Davis’s trial is scheduled for February 2026. With no surviving witnesses from the Cadillac besides him, his testimony may prove critical. Still, prosecutors admit there is no independent evidence linking Combs directly to a murder-for-hire plot.
Nearly 30 years after Tupac’s death, questions around the case continue to resurface—keeping alive one of hip-hop’s darkest and most debated chapters.
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