The reason why Tupac Shakur spat at reporters
It is, regrettably, something of an iconic image. An angry Tupac Shakur, dressed in a Detroit Red Wings jersey, spits at the camera. This is a vision of a man at the end of his tether, but what’s the context behind it? Why was Tupac so angry?
The photo is believed to have been taken on July 5, 1994, outside a Manhattan courthouse. He had been accused of a grievous crime around this time, and he was on trial for it. The last thing he wanted, at this moment, was for the paparazzi to be getting up in his face.
The accusations against Pac were very serious. In November 1993, a woman alleged that he and three other men forced her to perform oral sex on them in Pac’s hotel room in New York. A couple of guns were also found in Tupac’s room, so he was charged with firearm offences, too.
Tupac always maintained that he was innocent, both in court and in public. He even addressed the allegations during an interview on The Arsenio Hall Show, asserting that he was hurt that “a woman would accuse me of taking something from her.”
But despite his claims of innocence, the verdict went against him—albeit with caveats. In December 1994, Tupac was found guilty of forcibly touching the woman’s buttocks, but he was acquitted of the more serious sexual abuse charges, as well as the gun charges. A more serious conviction was avoided because of a lack of evidence.
But the consequences of the guilty verdict were nonetheless very serious. Bail was set at $3 million, which Tupac’s legal representative described as “inhumane,” while the woman who accused Tupac of wrongdoing later filed a civil suit that sought $10 million. This was later settled.
Tupac couldn’t afford to post bail at $3million, so he was forced to give himself up to authorities in New York. He was moved to Rikers Island in January 1995, and, the following month, he was sentenced to 18 months to four and a half years’ imprisonment.
Tupac would ultimately spend eight months in jail, but he was released in October 1995. That was when Death Row Records boss Suge Knight paid up $1.4 million to get him out on bail. In exchange, Pac would have to release new music on Death Row.
This was a dark period in Tupac’s life, with the sexual assault accusations hanging over him and ultimately leading to his incarceration. This is why he was so stressed out in July 1994, and it’s the story behind that infamous spitting photo.