Chuck Philips in a Los Angeles Times article claimed involvement by Sean “Diddy” Combs in a 1994 assault against Tupac. Diddy quickly said it was false. Then the website The Smoking Gun provided alleged proof that it was false, based upon papers conned by a prisoner who doctored FBI documents.

But there is one Chuck Philips quote you need to read. Philips told MTV shortly after the release of his story, and before the Smoking Gun story, the following:

“The police lie to you all the time. Police write up documents that are completely false, and you can print that. As a journalist, if they write up a police report that’s false, you can put that on the front page of the newspaper… because it’s a police document.”

Isn’t that charming. To read the entire article, click here.

Since the Smoking Gun Article, the newspaper, Philips, and his supervisor have printed an apology.

What is Diddy’s response?

“The Los Angeles Times apology is, at best, a first step,” according to a statement from Howard Weitzman, attorney for Combs, “but it doesn’t undo the false and defamatory nature of the story, or the suspicion and innuendo that Mr. Combs has had to endure due to these untruthful allegations and the irresponsible conduct of this particular reporter. We have nothing further to say at this time.”

“The story and related features on latimes.com attracted nearly 1 million hits — more viewers than any other story on latimes.com this year, the newspaper said.”

Source: MTV and Source