Sean Combs slams Tupac report

NEW YORK, March 17 (UPI) -- Sean Combs and talent manager Jimmy Rosemond vehemently deny a report claiming they were connected to the 1994 New York shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Shakur was shot five times at Quad Recording Studios, but survived. No one was ever charged in the incident. Shakur was fatally shot in Las Vegas in 1996.

The Los Angeles Times Monday cited information from unidentified FBI informants and other interviews for a story that said Rosemond planned the attack on Shakur because Shakur was disrespectful and Rosemond wanted to curry favor with Combs.

The Times said the attack was to be a beating, but became more serious when Shakur whipped out his own gun.

"This story is beyond ridiculous and is completely false," music and fashion mogul Combs said in a statement released to Newsday Monday. "I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."

"I have not even been questioned by law enforcement with regard to the assault of Tupac Shakur," Rosemond said in a statement to Newsday, adding he is consulting lawyers "regarding this libelous piece of garbage."

The Times said Shakur always believed Combs's associates had been behind the 1994 shooting.