Tupac Shakur died days after being shot while riding in a car with Death Road Records exec Suge Knight in 1996, contrary to a viral story posted in London's Daily Mirror quoting a former cop saying he was paid big money to help the rapper stage his death, Lead Stories can confirm.
The fake story was first reported on September 13, 2015 by Daily Media Buzz, the same website that falsely reported rapper Slim Jesus was shot and crucified on September 12. Slim Jesus is still alive, but Shakur is still dead.
The real story is how did the Mirror, an actual major newspaper in the United Kingdom, fall for the hoax and copy a story straight off the same website that reported in August that retired NBA star Michael Jordan was dead and that YouTube would shut down for three weeks in October for a "major update." The answer is: They put a question mark in the headline, which some editors think absolves them from publishing actual facts.
The Mirror's headline: "Is Tupac still alive? Retired police officer claims he was PAID to help rapper fake his death"
The bogus report claims to the fake death was staged by Shakur and Knight, who paid a Las Vegas police officer $1.5 million to help pull it off. That ex-cop is supposedly making a death bed confession about his role in convincing 30 other people, including the medical examiner, paramedics and other police officers, to lie about it.
A replacement corpse was obtained for $50,000 to stand in (or lie in) for Shakur, according to the report.
The idea that Shakur is still alive raises an important question: Where is he now and what does he think of the current state of hip hop? The website that first reported his resurrection said he is hiding in California, but he recently recorded a track "Dissing Young Thug, Lil Wayne, Drake, Jay Z And More!"
As further proof this is a hoax, listen to the alleged Tupac track posted on YouTube by the site (of course, it won't be available for three weeks in October.)
Lead Stories' Trendolizer is a hoax-finding beast, scouring social nets around the world to see what you might be falling for. Scroll down to see the latest, but remember: Just because it's trending, doesn't mean it's true.
