LA Times Apologizes to Diddy for Fake 2Pac Story

The LA Times' reporter Chuck Philips probably has egg on his face right now. Last week, Philips revealed in a Times article that Diddy had knowledge that Tupac Shakur would be ambushed at Quad Studios, where Shakur was eventually shot in 1994. The story went on to state that the paper obtained "FBI records" in which a confidential informant had accused 2 men of helping orchestrate the attack on 2Pac. Having examined the purported FBI documents, The Smoking Gun website found several structural and grammatical deficiencies that raised some red flags. Moreover, the report could not be found on any FBI database. Turns out the Times had relied on fake FBI records, forged by a federal inmate named James Sabatino.

Following the discovery, LA Times quickly apologized on its website yesterday. "The bottom line is that the documents we relied on should not have been used," said Times editor Russ Stanton. "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."

So much for investigative journalism. Diddy's lawyers are probably considering a libel suit against LA Times.