Last week's LA Times article about the Tupac shooting of 1994 (occurring just two years before his murder), led to a lot of chatter about the rapper's death and those who may have been involved. The finger was now being pointed at Sean "Diddy" Combs, who maintained he was not involved. Today, The Smoking Gun calls the paper out by saying their scoop was a scam. Their main resource, James Sabatino (pictured), has likely fabricated......

Though the mystery has never been solved, many have attached Sean "Diddy" Combs and Christopher Wallace (Biggie Smalls/The Notorious B.I.G.) to the 1994 attack and 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur -- sparking an East Coast/West Coast rap war, leading to Biggie's 1997 murder and escalating the "no snitching" policy into law. The accusation even came from Tupac himself after the attack in 1994. Enter LA Times writer Chuck Phillips, who has been on the beat......

A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death inside the Flatiron club Duvet early Friday morning. Shamel McKinsey stumbled outside and collapsed outside on West 21st street, "blood gushing from his wounds, just after 3:30 a.m.," according to the Daily News. McKinsey, who had an arrest record for drug possession with intent to sell, was pronounced dead at St. Vincent's Hospital. Police suspect that McKinsey may have been partying with the rapper Fabolous at Duvet,......

Anyone looking for closure in the Diddy SoHo slapfest case, look no further. Reports are that prosecutors aren't pursuing criminal charges against Mr. Combs anymore because "Stephen Acevedo appeared to stop cooperating with police - after accusing the rap star of sucker-punching him inside the exclusive SoHo club on Oct. 13 after the two quarreled over women." Of course, Acevedo's lawyer says he is taking the "high road" and declining to talk further about the......

It's more like "will he or won't he"...yesterday we heard about a scuffle between Sean Combs (aka P. Diddy) and Steven Acevedo (aka someone we've never heard of), and today there are conflicting reports about what has happened since the dust has settled. The Daily News is reporting that "the hip-hop mogul is already making nice with the guy who got socked in the kisser at Kiosk. Combs and Steven Acevedo were spotted Monday night......

After claims that his G-Unit associate Tony Yayo beat up the son of a rival music management company for him, 50 Cent is talking. Well, his lawyer is talking. Benjamin Brafman, familiar for having defended P. Diddy and DJ Star, fired off a few words at the child's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman. Lichtman - and the 14-year-old's mother - claimed that 50 urged his crew to beat up the boy because of a fight with his......

Blame it on Diddy. Crain's reports that after Sean "P. Diddy" Combs opened his Sean John store at Fifth Avenue and 41st Street, building owners have been looking to make that stretch of Fifth more upscale (more than the Best Buy) and the owners of 500 Fifth Avenue is "forcing out" tenants, such as tobacconist to the world Nat Sherman. The owners are hoping to get a luxury retailer to pay $425 per square foot......

It's nothing like what the weather will be like in November, but it's never too early to train for the NYC Marathon. Deena Kastor, who won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics for the marathon and who happens to hold the American record for the women's marathon - 2:19.36 - after running this year's London Marathon, is in New York to train. And even in this gross weather, she's out running and talking to......

- Americans may not win World Cups, but we do seem to have knack for winning the Tour de France. - A former Law & Order makeup artist is suing NBC for blacklisting her after she pointed out sexual harassment on the set. - Ask the MTA Chairman a silly question, get an answer. - The Times explores the politics of the Sabbath elevator. - Two's a trend: Just like a robbery on July......

If you're going to do an issue about the 100 People Who Shape Our World, you might as well have a big party, right? Time magazine rolled out the red carpet last night for people on its list, their friends, and the press. Gothamist stopped by the party just ahead of Stephen Colbert. We were not wearing a bear costume, so he wasn't that afraid of us. And perennial favorite, Rachael Ray, showed up......

This a very good day in the Daily News newsroom, while it must be more of a bummer at the Post's offices. News that a NY Post gossip writer has been investigating for trying to extort a billionaire mentioned in Page Six has turned into Christmas in April for the Daily News. (You can read the NY Times' article, as they are somewhat less invested in the story.) According to the Post's statement on......

Gothamist had always wondered what it would be like to be hobnob with P. Diddy. You know, watch as his manservant puts his napkin on his lap, waiting to see what Sean John ensemble he'll wear next. (Perhaps we watched too much Making the Band 3 - we have been singing extremely off-key lately.) But now it seems like it's safer that we don't have a Bad Boy lifestyle - last night, at a party......

We're happy to announce, in the throes of a hurricane bearing down, the launch of the newest addition to our network of sites, Miamist, your friendly blog in Miami. Edited by JR Biersmith and Rachael Bohrer, there are already suggestions about how to hold a Hurricane Wilma Party, signage problems for restaurants when the signs say "go to hell" in Spanish, and how the University of Miami has invaded Hollywood. We are sure that the......

The stories coming out of the courthouse where lawyers are trying to select jurors for John Gotti Jr.'s trial continue to be amazing. Apparently, the potential jurors have been less than smart, with Judge Scheindlin saying about one juror, "He wasn't the brightest bulb." And then Gotti's lawyer said, "We've had that a lot." There there was the juror, a "self-taught criminologist," who collected gangster memorabilia - he got bumped. Judge Scheindlin has been upset......

Trojan Condoms is breaking through to primetime television with an ad that will air on tonight's Law & Order. Adweek is told this is the first condom ad to ever air on a Big Three network during primetime. Hmm...is it a coincidence that Joe Piscopo is featured in this L&O rerun? Defamer thinks a collective cinderblock will be, uh, pooed by the Parents Television Council over this ad. And speaking of Hollywood, Gothamist is jealous......

The Politcker got an exclusive with the MP3 of the new New York theme song. Listen here and wonder when a multicultural cast of dancers will pop out from behind your cubicle walls. The Politicker notes: The ambitious anthem, with lyrics by Jack Murphy, is destined for national airtime on television commericals, in remixed adaptations that may include rap, salsa, and country western.NO!!!! Please, P. Diddy, we know you love remixes, but don't sample this.......

While it's clear that NY Times New York Region > Public Lives: Seeking Courtroom Drama, From Every Angle" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/04/nyregion/04profile.html?pagewanted=all">Public Lives profilee Henry S. Schleiff, head of Court TV, is a smart man, he betrays any illusion of being in touch with pop culture. Sure, he may have attempted to get a job at Saturday Night Live, but we can pretty much see why. Check out this from the article:"Thanks to Michael Jackson, one can no......

You know it's the Oscars when P. Diddy busts out the velvet suit! Gothamist loves the Oscars, and we're going to attempt to do a little liveblogging. We might need to order a vat of caffeine and an EMT team at the ready; not because Chris Rock will be boring, but because we think that Gil Cates might kill us with his newfangled ideas and because we're meh about this year's nominees in the big......

In a still-in-time-for-the-holidays gift for all reporters on the Guy Velella beat, prison officials have reportedly placed the disgraced ex-State-Senator with rapper Shyne in a cell at Rikers Island. Yes, that Shyne, who is serving a sentence for that 1999 club shooting that P. Diddy, then known at Puff Daddy, was also tried for (being Daddy, the Diddy got off). Now, Gothamist has been following the Guy Velella case peripherally - we never posted before......

This Sunday will welcome one of the most amazing New York City sporting events, the ING NYC Marathon. Covering the five boroughs in 26.2 miles, the NYC Marathon brings together both professional and amateurs runners on what is usually a brisk fall day. Gothamist loves the marathon because we admire the men and women for their nerve and persistence, as well as an opportunity to yell and cheer as loud as we can. The......

New Yorkers have definitely been trying to cast their vote, given reporst of long lines and broken machines. Some of us at Gothamist have been able to vote and prove it, while others faced long lines of New Yorkers and made silent vows to leave work early and vote then. And if you were voting on the Upper East Side and had to deal with long lines, Gothamist says blame P. Diddy for bringing......

South Park is back tonight with new episode called "Douche and Turd": When PETA demonstrates against the use of a cow as South Park Elementary’s mascot, the student body is forced to choose a new one. As the election approaches, Kyle tries to convince everyone that his candidate, a giant douche, is better than Cartman’s nominee, a turd sandwich.Apparently, Stan refuses to select one, so P. Diddy comes to kill him. Thus the episode......

Gothamist is excited about Team America, the marionette movie from Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park that will spoof both left and right wing Americans, as well as world leaders in rude and hilarious fashion (purposefully bad accents for Kim Jong Il, for starters, let alone the marionette sex issue). But we don't know exactly why composer Marc Shaiman left the film Or that's what we thought we heard. Marc, a film......

Sean "P. Diddy" Combs announced his voter-registration/voter interest drive initiative, Citizen Change, earlier this week. The way to reach the 42 million voters between 18 and 30? The urgent, fatalistic and ultimately pithy: "Vote or Die!" (It also sounds like a video game.) The program is non-partisan, non-profit, and chock full of celebrity endorsers, with 50 Cent, Leonardo DiCaprio, Snoop Dogg, and Jay-Z and Ashton Kutcher on board. Vote or Die! shirts went on......

I'm a New York City resident but have never voted. Is it too late to register for the November election? How do I register in time? Adam, UES It's not too late at all. You still have until October 7 to register for the November 2 election. (The deadline in New Jersey is October 1 and in Connecticut it's October 18.) Visit the New York State Board of Elections website where you can download......

In the biggest youth election news since Rock the Vote, P. Diddy is getting into the voter-enfranchisement business by starting a non-profit to get young people to vote. Called Citizen Change, Diddy wants to emphasize that voting is important. At first blush, it seems like a really great idea: Focus on issues like education, health care and jobs and target black and Latino communities that might not be as active otherwise. Who knows how well......

The Olympic Torch Relay in NY is on: Already, P. Diddy missed his chance due to traffic and Chuck Close, who is wheelchair bound, told the AP, "I am going to be rolling, not running. So it is going to be interesting to see how I keep my beard from catching on fire." You can see the torch relay at these locations (6th Avenue and 14th Street around 4-5PM; ending in Times Square later this......

So MTV is planning more celebrity-hosted reality programs, in an effort to keep basic cable viewers from the bread and butter of MTV - music videos. Two shows Gothamist was intrigued by:"Power Girls" features press maven [Lizzie] Grubman and her team of publicists as they run the nightlife in Manhattan, the Hamptons and Miami. "Borrow My Crew," hosted by Fonzworth Bentley, rents out entourages-to-the-stars to viewers in need. In the first episode, MTV hires Jennifer......

If President Reagan had not died on Saturday, Gothamist is sure that the third marriage of Jennifer Lopez to crooner Marc Anthony (who looks anemic, or like an extra from a Tim Burton ghoul film - hey, Marc Anthony's manager, take notes!), would have been the number 1 news story, even besting D-Day coverage. So, while the balance of celebrity news versus real news is skewed, we can rest assured that a presidental death outweighs......

Finally! The small sidebar in Entertainment Weekly was not enough to sate Gothamist's interest in Farnsworth Bentley, aka P. Diddy's umbrella wielding man servant/personal assistant/motivational coach (he changed the umbrella for a bullhorn and help the Diddy train for the marathon), and the Times anticipated that. The Style section's lengthy article about Bentley and his new line of umbrellas ($160 umbrellas - brilliant!) told us the following things about Derek Watkins (the un-Diddified name of......