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Years before his 2023 arrest, Duane “Keefe D” Davis claimed that Sean “Diddy” Combs offered him money to kill Tupac Shakur. This is a claim that Diddy has refuted many times over the years. According to Davis, however, Diddy called him several days after he heard Tupac had been shot. He alleged that Diddy was happy about the situation.

Tupac Shakur’s accused killer said he spoke to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs after the rapper’s death

In 1991, Davis said he met a drug dealer and club owner named Eric “Von Zip” Martin. Through Martin, Davis met Diddy. At the time, Diddy’s rivalry with Suge Knight and Tupac was growing increasingly fraught. Davis claimed that in 1995, Diddy told him and several others that he wanted “them dudes’ heads” when speaking about Knight and Tupac (per Intelligencer).

Tupac Shakur wears a red shirt and a red backwards hat.
Tupac Shakur | Bob Berg/Getty Images

In 1996, Davis was in Las Vegas with his nephew, Orlando Anderson, and several others. Tupac reportedly punched Anderson for his Southside Crip allegiance. Tupac’s group then attacked Anderson. Davis wanted to retaliate, so he said his group obtained guns and found Tupac driving with Knight. They fired multiple times, hitting Tupac four times and injuring Knight. Six days later, Tupac died

According to Davis, Diddy called him not long after the shooting, asking “Was that us?” Davis confirmed that it had been, which reportedly made Diddy “happy as hell” (via Salon).

He has always denied having anything to do with the murder

In 2008, Diddy publicly claimed that he had nothing to do with Tupac’s murder. Reports had begun to surface that both Diddy and the Notorious B.I.G. had advance knowledge of the attack.

“This story is beyond ridiculous and completely false,” Diddy told AllHipHop.com. “Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself.”

He called out the Los Angeles Times, which published an investigative piece linking him to the murder.

“I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story,” he said.

Tupac Shakur reportedly did not like Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

When Tupac was alive, he reportedly wanted little to do with Diddy. Even before his rivalry with Biggie, he tried to avoid the music executive.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs wears a white jacket and a black bow tie. He wears sunglasses.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs | Paras Griffin/Getty Images
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“Pac didn’t have any kind of respect for Puff,” photographer Monique Bunn told Rolling Stone. She also noted that Tupac viewed Diddy as a “corny executive.”

Tupac later hinted that Diddy had something to do with the 1994 shooting he survived outside Quad Studios in Times Square.