T.K. Kirkland is clearing the air about the rumored $1 million check allegedly tied to Sean “Diddy” Combs and the 1997 murder of Tupac Shakur.
During a sit-down with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay, the comedian recalled spending time with 2Pac on the very day the rapper was fatally shot. Kirkland said he had been taking fat burner pills and unknowingly mixed them with alcohol that afternoon, which left him feeling unwell.
“I was working out, and I took some fat burner pills. Don’t know why. I’m not fat,” Kirkland joked. “Took the fat burner pills, but I didn’t know you couldn’t drink alcohol with it. I drank alcohol later that afternoon, so as we’re going to the party, I leave them because I’m not feeling good.”
He said he ended up staying in his hotel for a week and learned about the shooting through the news. At first, he believed 2Pac would survive. “When I started getting well, that’s when I found out he had died,” he said.
Fast forward to 2023, when Duane “Keffe D” Davis was charged in connection with Tupac’s murder. After his arrest, audio surfaced of Keffe D claiming Diddy had put out a $1 million hit on both Tupac and Suge Knight. The alleged bounty was said to have been funneled through a check given to Eric “Von Zip” Martin, who passed away in 2012.
Kirkland addressed the speculation, saying, “My street guy Eric ‘Von Zip.’ They said Puffy had gave Eric ‘Von Zip’ a million, and Zip never gave it to the people to do the shooting, but the shooting happens.”
He added that because of his close friendship with Von Zip, rumors started circulating that he might have received the money. “So, Eric ‘Von Zip’ died, but they knew me and him was partners, so rumor on the street was I had got the million because me and him was tight. But I want everybody to know, I don’t know nothing about no money.”
Back in 2021, former Diddy bodyguard Gene Deal told DJ Vlad that Von Zip did carry a check in his back pocket—but claimed it came from Barry Hankerson for Blackground Records, not Combs.
Kirkland had previously opened up to Vlad TV about the rumored check, admitting he’d “heard” whispers about it over the years. When told that the alleged money was meant for Keffe D, the comedian pointed out the serious legal implications if that trail ever led back to Diddy.
“But thank God he never gave him the money, right?” Kirkland said. “Think about it. If he gave him the money, Puffy would be in prison now, murder-for-hire. If it’s a true story. I’m not saying yes or no.”
