*Former rapper Shyne, who is now the head of the Belize United Democratic Party, is speaking out about being Diddy’s “fall guy” in the infamous 1999 nightclub shooting.
His comments come weeks after Natania Reuben, a victim of the shooting also involving Jennifer Lopez, said that she would be willing to have bullet fragments removed from her face to prove that the Bad Boy mogul was the one who shot her.
We reported earlier that Reuben has for years asserted that it was Diddy, not Shyne, who shot her during an altercation between the rap mogul and Club New York patron Matthew Allen, resulting in injuries to three individuals, including herself.
Lopez was arrested and released, while Diddy was acquitted of all charges. Shyne, however, served an eight-year prison sentence. In 2011, Diddy settled civil suits with the victims, paying over $2.3 million.
Reuben recently posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) in which she appears to respond to music producer Rodney Jones’ lawsuit against Diddy. As The Jasmine Brand reports, Reuben noted in the video that Jones claims in the lawsuit that Diddy threatened him and admitted that he “shot up the club in New York back in 1999 and let Shyne take the fall for it.’”
During a recent interview with Channel 5 Belize, Shyne addressed the incident while responding to Reuben’s remarks.
“It opens wounds when you hear, you know, the victim saying that, you know, it was Diddy that shot her,” Shyne told Channel 5, Complex reports. “And that was triggered by a lawsuit from a producer [Lil Rod] that produced on the Love Album who is making accusations and in those accusations, he says that the gentleman confessed to the shooting.”
Shyne said, “Everyone knew all along that I was the fall guy. But my political enemies and, you know, detractors try to make me into, you know, this criminal.”
He continued, “But everyone knew that I was a young kid that took the fall. Everyone knew that, that was the story. I’m just saying that I maintained my innocence all this time.”
The rapper-turned-politician added, “… I didn’t get into who did what, but the victim is telling you who did what and I understand that there are other witnesses,” he explained.
“Fragments were never removed so there was never any forensic testing to say who it was, but the victims are vindicating me,” Shyne said.
“Witnesses are vindicating me, but I have moved on, I am not trying to relive that. And so, I am appreciative of whatever contributions that Diddy has made to help the people of Belize,” he continued. “I wish him well and I pray for him, and I pray for the alleged victims. And if it is true, may justice be served and if it’s not, it’s a tragedy because a global icon would have been destroyed.”
As Complex reprots, in a 2022 episode of Drink Champs, Shyne spoke about his relationship with Diddy and how the hip-hop icon was a victim of bad legal advice.
“I blame it more on the lawyers that were advising him,” Shyne said. “Because his lawyers were there to secure a ‘not guilty’ verdict by any means.”
“He’s a $100 million corporation and they looked at me as the enemy,” he continued.
“This is how many years ago? This is 20-something years ago. Puff is still young relatively. So he’s much younger then and it’s a lot of pressure. He’s about to lose everything. I’m about to lose everything. I’m from that though. Diddy is a musician, but he wasn’t from that. So his response shouldn’t be expected to be my response,” Shyne explained.
“When your lawyers are misleading you and misguiding you, that’s how everything fell apart. And he said that to me. He said, ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have never listened to those lawyers.’ I forgave him,” Shyne admitted.
“It was traumatic. I would forgive him and then you might hear me a few months later going in on him. That was over a decade ago and I was in a different space then.”
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