LA Times reporter Chuck Philips penned an incendiary article last weekend about the 1994 ambush and shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur at Quad Studio in New York, an event many feel was directly related to his murder months later in Las Vegas.

The article, a follow-up to several previous controversial articles Phillips has written about the Tupac/Biggie murders in the past, reveals what he calls newly discovered information, including interviews with people who were at the studio that night, supprts Shakur's claims that associates of rap impresario Sean "Diddy" C****s were behind the assault. Tupac had always said that he was shot as punishment for disrespecting them and rejecting business offers.

Of course, Diddy has denied the accusations.

"The story is a lie," he said in a statement. "It is beyond ridiculous and completely false. Neither (the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.) nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. ... I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."

"In the past 14 years, I have not even been questioned by law enforcement with regard to the assault of Tupac Shakur, let alone brought up on charges," he continued. "Chuck Philips, the writer ... has reached a new low by employing fourth-hand information from desperate jailhouse informants along with ancient FBI reports to create this fabrication. I simply ask for all rap fans and fans of Tupac to analyze this fiction for what it is."

On a side note, the story was the first investigative report published as a Web exclusive.

"This piece was perfect for the Web," Times Editor Meredith Artley said. "The Web audience skews younger. We had all these great multimedia elements, and we said we really don't need to wait to fit this in the paper."