A newly released letter from two decades ago revealed why rapper Tupac Shakur broke up with singer Madonna.
In 2015, Madonna claimed she dated the rapper before his death in 1996—but she didn’t explain the reason for their breakup.
Tupac wrote the letter while he was in prison.
“I haven’t been the kind of friend I know I am capable of being,” wrote Shakur, who spent time in prison for abuse, Rolling Stone reported.
TMZ published portions of the letter he wrote to her while at the Clinton Correctional Facility.
The letter, dated Jan. 15 at 4:30 a.m., is addressed to “M.” He explained that he had to break up with her because she’s white and he’s black, TMZ reported.
“For you to be seen with a black man wouldn’t in any way jeopardize your career, if anything it would make you seem that much more open and exciting,” Tupac wrote. “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,” he added.
Madonna hasn’t commented on the letter.
In the letter, Tupac said that Madonna angered him when she said in an interview, “'I’m off to rehabilitate all the rappers and basketball players or something to that effect.” He added: “Those words cut me deep seeing how I had never known you to be with any rappers besides myself. It was at this moment out of hurt and a natural instinct to strike back and defend my heart and ego that I said a lot of things. … Can you feel me?” according to People.
He added that he’s “grown both spiritually and mentally” and is no longer the “young man with limited experience.”
Tupac also made a few ominous comments.
“If there is any information you can share with me regarding Jack and crew, please do,” Shakur wrote, without elaborating. “It could very well be a matter of life and death.”
He also told her to “please be careful ... . Everyone is not as honorable as they seem.”
He added: “There are those whose hearts bleed with envy and evil. They would not hesitate to do you harm! Let my 5 bullets be proof of that!”
