In a 2.5 page handwritten letter penned by Tupac Shakur, then 24, in 2005 lies some details about whether or not then 37-year-old pop icon Madonna visited the rapper while he was incarcerated in Rikers Island. The letter was sent to her New York City apartment in January 2005. It’s reported the couple split because Shakur was worried that dating a white woman would jeopardize his career.
Now 59 years old, Madonna has stopped the sale of the revealing letter and other items, including her “personally worn panties,” which are both up for auction. In a deposition, according to New York court documents, Madonna acknowledges she received and read the letter.
In the letter, Shakur asked her to visit him while he was incarcerated for sexual assault. (Death Row Records posted $1.4 million bail on October 12, 1995 so the rapper would be released from the maximum-security penitentiary, where he was serving up to 4.5 years for two counts of sexual abuse, stemming from a 1993 incident at a Manhattan hotel in which Shakur and an associate were accused of holding a female fan down while a third man sexually assaulted her. Shakur was convicted on two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree for offensive touching without consent.)
He also writes:
I’ve waited a long time 2 finally write this. Mainly because I was struggling to find all the answers so that I wouldn’t leave any unanswered questions.
For you to be seen with a black man wouldn’t in any way jeopardize your career, if anything it would make you seem more open and exciting.
But for me, at least in my previous perception I felt due to my “image” I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was. I never meant to hurt you…
Please Be Careful Madonna.
Madonna refused during the deposition to respond to the question if she in fact visited Shakur following his request. Her response, “I’m not answering that question … It’s not relevant to this letter.” Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas 18 months after writing the letter.
The Tupac letter was expected to earn up to $400,000.
In addition, Madonna’s panties, an old checkbook, a hairbrush and personal photos were also up for auction hosted by Gotta Have It! Collectibles. Manhattan state Supreme Court Judge Gerald Leibovitz ordered them o pull the personal items from the auction.
Madonna’s former friend, art consultant Darlene Lutz consigned the items to be auctioned.
