The brother of rap legend Tupac Shakur has spoken out about his family’s fresh investigation into his brother’s death in the wake of rapper Diddy‘s arrest for racketeering and sex trafficking.
Mopreme Shakur opened up about the toll the unsolved murder had had on his family and discussed theories Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs may have played a part in the 1996 hit.
The legendary rapper was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas after leaving a boxing match at the MGM Grand.
He was sitting in a black BMW sedan with Suge Knight, the head of his record label, when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside and a gunman opened fire, striking him multiple times.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Mopreme revealed he had his ‘doubts’ over Diddy’s staunch denial of any involvement in Tupac’s fatal shooting. It comes as Tupac’s family have hired a prominent attorney to probe whether or not Diddy was involved in his killing.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored Mopreme Shakur spoke about the toll the unsolved murder had had on his family and discussed theories Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs may have played a part in the 1996 hit
Legendary rapper Tupac was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas after leaving a boxing match at the MGM Grand
In the one-to-one interview with Piers Morgan, Mopreme revealed he had his ‘doubts’ over Diddy’s staunch denial of any involvement in Tupac’s fatal shooting
Diddy has been locked behind bars since he was arrested and charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution on September 16
Last year Duane Keith Davis, known as Keefe D, was charged for his role in Tupac’s shooting after over two decades of speculation. He is awaiting trial.
Although Davis has been the only person charged with Tupac’s murder, he has previously named Diddy as an alleged conspirator.
Describing how, in 2008, Diddy phoned him to say he was not behind his brother’s shooting, Mopreme said: ‘He was in LA at the time, he was on the radio. He asked a local DJ that we all know, Big Boy, to reach out to me.
‘Because he wanted to speak to me about something. This is a few years after Pac’s murder.
‘We all were familiar with all the rumours and stuff. I said, “Yeah, let me talk to him”.
‘So he called me and I had my guys with me, thug life guys, and we heard what he had to say.
‘He’s basically said he ain’t had nothing to do with my brother’s murder. And I told him, “The truth is still yet to come out, so we gonna see”.
‘Here we are 27 – 28 years later and there looks like there is some doubt in that statement.
‘So this, along with all the other suspensions that people had, it was time for it to be investigated.’
Reading out Diddy’s denial of the earlier stories linking him to Tupac’s death, Piers went on to ask: ‘Do you think that was an honest statement?’
Pictured: Tupac Shakur on August 15, 1996, a month before he was murdered
This photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows the bullet-riddled car in which rapper Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in September 1996, in Las Vegas
Mopreme replied: ‘My opinion is that, I don’t believe it was 100% honest statement – so again, we have to find out what is true and what’s false, what’s real and what’s fake.’
‘You think he was lying?’ Piers asked.
‘Quite possibly and it’s kinda looking that way, in my opinion,’ Mopreme responded.
Piers added: ‘It seems to me that your opinion is that Diddy absolutely had something to do with your brother’s death.’
‘I never said that, this is why it has to be looked into,’ Mopreme said, concluding there were many theories out there, he admitted: ‘The theory involving him [Diddy] is quite high on the list’.
The interview comes as Diddy was arrested last month in a sex-trafficking case accusing him of forcing women into ‘freak off’ orgies and presiding over a sordid criminal empire of sexual crimes.
Diddy has been locked behind bars since he was arrested and charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution on September 16.
Since then upwards of 120 victims have come forward, but Combs maintains his innocence.
Combs was arrested last month in a sex-trafficking case accusing him of forcing women into ‘freak off’ orgies and presiding over a sordid criminal empire of sexual crimesÂ
Diddy, pictured with Notorious B.I.G. in California in the 1990s, has long been accused of orchestrating the murder of rap rival Tupac Shakur in 1996
He appeared in court on Thursday, surrounded by his family, where his request for bail was denied for a third time.
A judge offered a May 5, 2025 trial date at the request of his high-powered legal team.
Prosecutors said they estimate their case will take about three weeks, while Diddy’s lawyers say they will need about a week to make their case.
In light of the mounting criminal allegations against him now Tupac’s family want the case to be revisited and have hired a prominent attorney to probe whether or not Diddy was involved in his 1996 killing.
The family have hired New York celebrity attorney Alex Spiro, who is also currently representing embattled NYC Mayor Eric Adams on bribery charges, and his team of investigators to look into Diddy’s alleged link to the crime.
They are hopeful that privately hired hotshot attorney Spiro may be able to find the link that prosecutors and LAPD detectives never could, according to Court TV.
Spiro made headlines earlier this year after securing Alec Baldwin’s freedom in his ‘Rust’ shooting trial, before also taking on Adams as a client in recent weeks after he was charged with bribery by federal prosecutors.
For his latest role, he will delve into the hip-hop feud between Tupac and Diddy in the 1990s, which was fueled by an East-West rap rivalry.
On the East Coast was Diddy and fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G, real name Christopher Wallace. The rivalry was based upon Tupac, on the West Coast, being convinced that Notorious B.I.G. was behind the 1994 robbery of which he was the target.
Just months after Tupac’s death, Notorious B.I.G. – also known as Biggie Smalls – was also shot in a copycat drive-by shooting in Los Angeles that was blamed on the West Coast side of the rivalry.
When asked by Piers about the arrest of Keefe D in connection with the murder last year, Tupac’s brother Mopreme said: ‘I was shocked that there was an arrest after 27 years.Â
‘I was real curious, why now? Why only him? There’s a lot of questions I had… It didn’t make a lot of sense to me, being it had been so long and these individuals had been known about for quite some time…’
He said the family had not heard from Las Vegas police for years.
Asked about Keefe D’s allegations of being paid by Diddy, he said: ‘I have heard all these things too.’
He concluded: ‘He is the only one sitting in jail right now. By all accounts, New York and Las Vegas, groups of people were involved – three or more in each case. So what about everybody else?’
Asked again about Diddy’s potential involvement, he added: ‘We gonna see. Just like I told him, “We gonna see”… I’m not saying nothing until this investigation is over. And then we will see what it is.Â
‘Everybody knows the suspicions, everybody knows the theories… especially now, [people] are thinking it might be possible, we gonna see.’
When asked about Diddy’s current legal battle, Mopreme said: ‘We have nothing to do with his current situation, with the sex trafficking, I have nothing to do with none of that. Our issues were prior to that.
‘The fact this Keefe D dude got arrested, he’s a known associate of Combs, that’s just a fact. So Stevie Wonder can see that.’
Davis told LAPD detectives in 2008 that Combs allegedly offered him $1million to murder Shakur (left) and Death Row Records boss Suge Knight (right)
Asked his thoughts on the rapper, he said: ‘It’s just a shame. The brother [Diddy] obviously had some skills and some talent but when my brother passed away, it seems like he got a whole lot of power, like absolute power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’
He went on to say: ‘I don’t have too much personal experience with him… I knew Biggie, personally… I don’t think the best of the dude [Diddy] but I don’t have no proof.’
On what his message would be to Diddy, if he is watching the interview, he said: ‘Same thing it was, what 20 years ago, you know, we gonna see. Because he reached out personally to give his denial, or his position, and, you know, things look different at this point.’
Pressed on whether he believed Diddy’s denials, he added: ‘I have my doubts.’
On whether he would like to see Diddy ‘come clean’, if he is guilty, he said: ‘I don’t think that he will – I wouldn’t urge him to come clean because I don’t think that he will but if the proof is there, then that will satisfy me. We find the truth, proof that would satisfy me because I don’t expect he will, quote unquote, come clean.’
Asked about why he wouldn’t say outright if he thought Diddy was behind the crime, he added: ‘I must be very careful, this is a sensitive topic, a sensitive subject.’
