Comments on: Smoking Gun scoops the L.A. Times

Smoking Gun scoops the L.A. Times

mecran01 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:28:42 -0800

Then again, maybe Puff Daddy wasn't involved in the shooting of Tupac.
It looks like the L.A. Times' March 17th story drew upon forged FBI reports created with a prison typewriter by James Sabatino. The Times is now conducting an internal review.

The con man, James Sabatino, 31, has long sought to insinuate himself, after the fact, in a series of important hip-hop events, from Shakur's shooting to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.. In fact, however, Sabatino was little more than a rap devotee, a wildly impulsive, overweight white kid from Florida whose own father once described him in a letter to a federal judge as "a disturbed young man who needed attention like a drug." Just the fact that the Smoking Gun has undone the L.A. Times is perhaps even more interesting than the debate over who shot Tupac Shakur. Chuck Philips, author of the original story in the Times, won a Pulitzer in 1999.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:39:18 -0800

Is this Sabatino guy the same big fat white prisoner seen getting weepy about supposedly being somehow involved with the murders in the "Biggie and Tupac" documentary? It's been a while since I've seen it. Jesus, what an asshole. The reason both guys died is because of shit like this: media outlets stirring up the controversy in order to move product. Tupac said as much himself at the Video Music Awards shortly before he died.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:40:37 -0800

He's off partying with Elvis and Ken Lay.

By: Armitage Shanks

Armitage Shanks — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:42:40 -0800

The reason both guys died is because of shit like this: media outlets stirring up the controversy in order to move product. All these years I've been conned into believing it was a bullet in the head.

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:50:13 -0800

I'm just amazed that the Smoking Gun has become a Serious News Source.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:50:54 -0800

All these years I've been conned into believing it was a bullet in the head. Hurf durf. The reason it got to that point was because of the media throwing fuel on the fire. The east/west feud was a media creation that started as a problem between two men and turned into a civil war.

By: wendell

wendell — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:52:35 -0800

So Investigative Reporter Chuck Phillips gets a Bullshitzer Prize to go along with his Pulitzer. You'd think the press would've learned to stop treating habitual liars as 'confidential sources' since the con job leading up to the Iraq War. (Yes, I went there.) Then again, the LATimes has been going downhill steadily since the new Tribune management came in to 'save it', and I was already wondering how injecting itself into a 14-year-old second-tier-celebrity murder would increase its relevance.

By: Someone has just shot your horse!

Someone has just shot your horse! — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:56:23 -0800

All these years I've been conned into believing it was a bullet in the head. Hurf durf. The reason it got to that point was because of the media throwing fuel on the fire. The east/west feud was a media creation that started as a problem between two men and turned into a civil war. Oh man, did y'all hear about the beef between Armitage Shanks and DecemberBoy? That feud's gettin' pretty heavy - shit's crazy, yo.

By: Armitage Shanks

Armitage Shanks — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:58:45 -0800

Yeah, if one of us gets killed, I blame MetaFilter.

By: dances_with_sneetches

dances_with_sneetches — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:02:35 -0800

I blame Dan Rather.

By: dhammond

dhammond — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:03:22 -0800

The Los Angeles Times has been a horrible newspaper for as long as I can remember, if only for the incredibly poor writing.

By: ten pounds of inedita

ten pounds of inedita — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:06:31 -0800

The Los Angeles Times has been a horrible newspaper for as long as I can remember, if only for the incredibly poor writing. As opposed to the paper stock?

By: psp200

psp200 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:13:38 -0800

Having read only the online version of the LA Times, I can say that at least they cleaned up their website in the past year or so. As for the quality of the writing and editing, I agree there is much to be desired (except the superlative automotive reviews provided by Dan Neil).

By: jfrancis

jfrancis — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:14:35 -0800

So Diddy? Or Didn't he?

By: quin

quin — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:17:50 -0800

In fact, however, Sabatino was little more than a rap devotee, a wildly impulsive, overweight white kid from Florida whose own father once described him in a letter to a federal judge as "a disturbed young man who needed attention like a drug." I find this to be an incredibly biting description. It's as if they wanted to chose a wording that was the most derogatory thing possible without being directly insulting. It's actually quite masterful in the message that it conveys.

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:18:35 -0800

It is not Bureau of Prisons policy to allow cross-country furloughs. Even to attend the Soul Train Music Awards. Ha. Also, everyone knows that Jay-Z killed Tupac AND Biggie to make way for his dominance of hip hop since the 1996 release of Reasonable Doubt.

By: Class Goat

Class Goat — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:22:20 -0800

Sabatino now claims he got the documents from a woman named "Lucy Ramirez".

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:35:17 -0800

> I'm just amazed that the Smoking Gun has become a Serious News Source. You could go back to reading the Drudge Report, if you prefer.

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:57:25 -0800

The Los Angeles Times has been a horrible newspaper for as long as I can remember, if only for the incredibly poor writing. As opposed to the paper stock?

Given the audience around here, it's important to distinguish between bad writing and bad font choice...

By: tracicle

tracicle — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:05:08 -0800

Sabatino now claims he got the documents from a woman named "Lucy Ramirez". "Ricardo" was taken. Isn't Ramirez like the equivalent of Smith?

By: heresiarch

heresiarch — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:09:47 -0800

Also, when you're forging documents that were supposedly filled in with a typewriter, do try to avoid using a non-monospaced font.

By: KokuRyu

KokuRyu — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:26:16 -0800

I was in Las Vegas the day Tupac died. That is all.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:24:26 -0800

This shit makes the Hip-hop record industry sound like the alternate universe Star Trek where everybody had to assassinate superior officers in order to get promoted in the more brutal Imperial Federation. It would explain the goatees and eye patches.

By: quarter waters and a bag of chips

quarter waters and a bag of chips — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:05:48 -0800

Puff Daddy killed rap music, not just Tupac. It's bigger than hip-hop!

By: dhammond

dhammond — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:21:38 -0800

As opposed to the paper stock? Heh. What I meant was that the writing itself is poor, factual inaccuracies aside. Even when they get stuff right, it still sucks.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:30:52 -0800

I'm just amazed that the Smoking Gun has become a Serious News Source. Really? The Smoking Gun has always been a pretty solid source for original documents related to current events. Their whole raison d'être is providing solid back-up for the stories they post. I'd love to know why you think of them differently, because from here you just sound confused.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:40:31 -0800

C'mon. Some of their most popular items are concert riders and funny mug shots.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:22:44 -0800

That's not their fault. The point is they've always been good about linking directly to source documents. It's what they do. Hard to see why anyone would be surprised when they do the same for a more "serious" story.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:41:10 -0800

I killed Tupac. Now I can sleep.

By: gompa

gompa — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:48:55 -0800

I killed Tupac. Yeah, well, I invented the remix. Each of us has our cross to bear, yo.

By: erlkonig

erlkonig — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:37:51 -0800

Did anybody else read about Sabatino's hustling and think of the "extreme New York childhood" kid profiled in NY Mag a couple of months ago? I would not be surprised to see that kid end up in some Sabatino-like circumstances in a few years...

By: haqspan

haqspan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:42:58 -0800

The reason it got to that point was because of the media throwing fuel on the fire. The east/west feud was a media creation that started as a problem between two men and turned into a civil war. This is an absurd statement. The media did not give these men the guns that killed them. The media did not suggest Tupac and Suge Knight, Mob Piru Blood associates, stomp Orlando Anderson, a Crip, one night in Las Vegas. That beating was most likely the event that precipitated Tupac's being gunned down. Not stories in Vibe and The Sauce about the East Coast/West Coast beef.

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:35:37 -0800

Why isn't there a website called "Rap star or Pirate?

Really? The Smoking Gun has always been a pretty solid source for original documents related to current events. Their whole raison d'être is providing solid back-up for the stories they post. I'd love to know why you think of them differently, because from here you just sound confused. posted by mediareport at 7:30 PM on March 26 [+] [!]

I guess I missed some of the hard hitting stories that The Smoking Gun has been publishing because of the preponderance of funny mug shots and tales of green, St. Patrick's day-themed crack. When I look at that weird blend of tabloid journalism and longer, more serious pieces, I think it's easy to see where the confusion resides.

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:59:46 -0800

and a retraction by the L.A. Times.