Janet Jackson wanted Tupac Shakur to take an AIDS test before a kissing scene in their 1993 movie, Poetic Justice, a new book claims.
In his biography, Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur, biographer Jeff Pearlman recounts on-set hostilities between Jackson, 59, and the late rapper, including an incident that took place before the two stars were due to film an intimate scene.
“S*** hit the fan late in the process, when it was time to film a kissing scene,” Pearlman writes in the book, an excerpt of which was published by The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, October 20. “In the days beforehand, Tupac talked nonstop about overwhelming Jackson with his lips and tongue. He thought he was being cute. She did not.”
Pearlman interviewed the movie’s producer Steve Nicolaides, who recalled the awkward conversations he had with both Jackson and Shakur.
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“Nicolaides was summoned to Jackson’s trailer, where she sat with her fiancé, a dancer named René Elizondo Jr. ‘You know, Tupac’s reputation is that he’s a cat about town,’ Jackson said. ‘And I don’t want to swap saliva with him until I’m really sure that he’s healthy and clean,’” writes Pearlman.
Per the book, Nicolaides asked Jackson whether she’d raised her concerns with the film’s director, the late John Singleton, but Jackson said, “John just walked off when I mentioned it. So I’m asking you to handle it.” The producer then “took a couple of deep breaths and walked over to Tupac, who was sitting alone in his trailer,” writes Pearlman.
Pearlman continues, “‘Sooooo … Tupac,’ he said. Tupac looked up. ‘I’ll just spit this out to you, man,’ he said. ‘Janet wants you to have an AIDS test before you kiss her.’ ‘You kidding?’ Tupac asked. ‘No,’ said Nicolaides. ‘F*** her,’ Tupac said. ‘I ain’t doing s*** for that bitch. Tell her to go f*** herself,’” the excerpt reads.
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“I honestly think he found it amusing,” Pearlman quotes Nicolaides as telling him. “And the truth is, I can’t blame Janet for asking. It was the early 1990s, and people were still dying of AIDS. And Tupac, God love him, had a reputation. But he never got the test.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Jackson’s representative for comment.
According to Pearlman, the kissing scene wasn’t the only point of contention between the two stars. Shakur was apparently displeased with the star treatment Jackson — the bigger star at the time of filming in 1992 — received on set.
“Tupac definitely did not have warm feelings for Janet,” Pearlman quotes Shakur’s friend Dupré Kelly in the book. “I remember him talking about her: ‘I got a car service bringing me to work every day. This chick has helicopters landing her on set. Every day, I’m eating chicken and waffles. She’s getting her stuff catered.’”
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Costar John Cothran tells Pearlman in the book, “He made it clear he was pissed about getting less than Janet. To me, that seemed absurd. Because I didn’t even know who the hell he was.”
Following the film’s release and several acclaimed albums, such as All Eyez on Me, Tupac would go on to become one of the defining rap artists of the 21st century with hits including “California Luv.” The rapper died from injuries sustained in a drive-by shooting in September 1996.
