This article contains distressing content that could be traumatic for some readers. Discretion is advised
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tupac Shakur was one of the most popular rappers during the 1990s. His oeuvre, though limited in number because of his untimely death in 1996, is impactful and finds resonance even today. While Tupac is about to be inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on June 7, it has to be remembered that his legacy is not entirely rosy. Tupac was once accused of rape by a woman named Ayanna Jackson, leading to a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence. He served nine months before coming out on bail.
Ayanna Jackson, after accusing Tupac of sexual assault in 1995, wasn’t much in the public eye. However, after the release of Tupac’s biopic ‘All Eyez on Me’ in 2017 and the TV miniseries 'Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.' in 2018, she came back into the limelight. In 2018, in an interview with Vlad TV, Jackson spoke in detail about her ordeal and what happened on the night of her rape.
Who is Ayanna Jackson?
In the interview, Jackson revealed that her first meeting with Tupac, which took place in a nightclub, was laced with sexual tension. Jackson remembered, “When I first met Tupac, he kissed me on my cheek and made small talk with me. After a while, I excused myself and started to walk to the dance floor. When I felt someone slide their hands into the back pocket of my jeans, I turned around, assuming it was my friend, but was shocked when I discovered it was Tupac.”
After the first meeting, she went to meet Tupac a few more times in Parker Meridien, where they established a sexual relationship in private. However, according to her, on the fateful night of November 18, 1993, Tupac was not alone in the hotel room of Parker Meridien. She recalled, “Inside the suite, Tupac, Nigel, and Trevor were seated in the living room, smoking weed and drinking Absolut.”
After 20 minutes, as Tupac went into the bedroom, he took her with him and asked Jackson to give him a massage. As they started kissing, she felt the others entering the room. According to her, Tupac held her braids and said, “Don’t move.” She elaborated, “Because he has his hand in my braids, I can’t physically move around.”
Jackson further recalled Tupac saying to her, “These are my boys. I like you so much, I decided to share you with them.” Then the ‘Gridlock’d’ actor and his friends allegedly raped Jackson.
'That girl was responsible for his demise'
It was alleged that Tupac was dating Desiree Smith when Jackson accused the rapper of raping her. In a 2022 interview with ‘Art Of Dialogue’, Smith said that she knew about Jackson as Tupac had talked to her about the woman. However, she felt that Jackson wasn’t the type of a woman with whom Tupac would have kept company. She further believed that it was Tupac’s encounter with Jackson that caused his distrust in people and it happened “specifically because it was a black woman.”
Smith further continued, “He did not rape her. He did not do anything to her besides maybe pass her off.” She even accused Jackson of being the root cause of the deaths of both Tupac and Big as she believed her incident started a chain of events. Smith elaborated, “That girl was responsible for his demise as well as Big’s demise because her chain of events is what started pretty much everything."
Ayanna Jackson's picture
After the TV miniseries 'Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.' came out in 2018, Ayanna Jackson shared a picture of herself posing in front of a mural of Tupac, as per According 2 Hip-Hop. The picture was met with harsh criticisms from the 'Juice' actor's fans.
