The LA Times has apologized to Sean Combs and James Rosemond after The Smoking Gun showed that documents the Times relied on were forged.

Rosemond said in a statement Wednesday that the Times article created “a potentially violent climate in the hip-hop community.” His attorney, Marc Lichtman, added: “I would suggest to Mr. Philips and his editors that they immediately print an apology and take out their checkbooks — or brace themselves for an epic lawsuit.”

Combs’ lawyer Howard Weitzman, in a letter to Times Publisher David Hiller, called the story inaccurate. He expanded an earlier demand for a retraction and said he believed that The Times’ conduct met the legal standard for “actual malice,” which would allow a public figure such as Combs to obtain damages in a libel suit.

Interesting, isn’t it, that a supposed world-class newspaper got their facts so wrong while an independent (and smallish) website did the research and digging and got the story right.

I think the only remaining question is whether the checks the LA Times signs to settle the lawsuits will have seven or eight figures in them.

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