Inside The Love Triangle Between Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Andre Rison, and Tupac Shakur

Lifetime’s newest docuseries Hopelessly In Love chronicles the intense relationships of some of Hollywood’s most infamous couples. The first episode featured the love story of beloved TLC rapper, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes” and her NFL player beau, Andre Rison. The two were in an on-again-off-again relationship for over a decade but many viewers were surprised to discover that Lopes was also entangled with late rapper, Tupac Shakur, simultaneously. 

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes dated Andre Rison for over a decade but was close friends with Tupac Shakur

Lopes and Shakur met at an industry event in 1991 and became fast friends. They spent a lot of time together both personally and professionally and friends of Lopes say that she was instantly attracted him. 

Interesting enough, Rison met Shakur separately and they became friends before Rison met and fell in love with Lopes. Rison has a music studio in his Atlanta mansion and gave Shakur access to record at his home studio. According to Rison, Shakur filmed a music video at his home and lived with him for a few months. 

Rison began dating Lopes in 1992 after meeting in an Atlanta nightclub. Shakur was present that evening with Rison but he and Lopes were not on speaking terms at the time due to having a falling out months earlier when he accused Lopes of being intimate with his best friend. 

Lopes and Rison hit it off and their love story began. Their relationship was filled with extreme highs and extreme lows. Of the lows, Lopes was arrested in 1995 after starting a fire in the home she and Rison shared. She was sentenced to three months in a Georgia halfway house and five years probation. 

Friends say Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was in love with both Andre Rison and Tupac Shakur

While Lopes was in the diversion center, Rison was traded to the Cleveland Browns. He began to visit Lopes less. According to close friends, Rison’s absence took a toll on her. She felt that Rison abandoned her.

When she was released, she and Shakur rekindled their friendship. Still, she remained in a relationship with Rison. Friends said that though Lopes loved Rison, her feelings for Shakur grew. 

Shakur and Lopes were both present at the 1996 Grammys where her group, TLC, was nominated for four awards. Rison did not attend the award show with Lopes and according to her best friend, it was an intentional move on Lopes’ part not to have him there. But Rison showed up anyway. 

Rison and Shakur’s friendship was strained after Rison says Lopes lied about the rapper picking her up from the home she shared with Rison a few years earlier. Hearing rumors of Lopes’ affinity towards Shakur made Rison want to know whether or not anything was happening between the two. When Lopes and Shakur were both absent from a Grammy party, Rison says his feelings were validated. 

“I think Andre knew how Lisa felt about Pac and I think Andre knew that was his competition,” she Lopes best friend, Trena Smith. “They had a strong connection, they knew what each other were thinking, they could finish each other’s sentences.”

Did Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Tupac Shakur ever date? 

Rison grew increasingly suspicious of the relationship between Shakur and Lopes but all of Lopes’ inner circle claim that the relationship between Shakur and Lopes remained platonic. 

“It was a strange love story because she and Pac never slept together and she and Andre were in a full-fledged relationship,” Smith said. “Andre had her heart and Tupac had her soul.”

Smith said things were confirmed even more when she noticed that the decor in Shakur and Rison houses were almost identical. Lopes decorates both homes. 

According to Lopes’ sister, Reign Lopes, Shakur told Lopes when they first became friends that they could never sleep together. She says it was a rule they abided by. Knight confirmed in a jailhouse interview that was aired on the documentary that the two loved each other but never were sexually intimate. 

Lopes cousin, Tangi Foreman, believes that if given the chance, Lopes would have wanted something more. “Lisa adored Tupac. If Tupac wanted to go there, she would have dated Tupac,” she said. “She really reflected on who she wanted to be with when she got out of the diversion center.”  

Even Rison believes that Lopes had feelings for both him and Tupac. “I think she was confused because she loved me but she also loved Tupac.”

Lopes and Rison were engaged to be married but they never made it down the aisle. She died in a car accident in 2002.