The massive success of N.W.A biopic “Straight Outta Compton” has caused a 2003 video of Suge Knight joking about Eazy-E‘s AIDS death to go viral.
Eazy-E, an original member of N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes), died of AIDS in 1995 at the age of 31. Suge Knight, who allegedly played a role in the infamous feud between Eazy-E and Dr. Dre, went on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” shortly after his release from prison in 2003 and baffled fans with an insensitive “joke” about Eazy-E’s death.
“Technology is so high,” Knight told Kimmel in response of the ABC host’s decision to wear a bulletproof vest during the interview, “If you shoot somebody, you go to jail forever. You don’t want to go to jail forever… They have a new thing out. They have this stuff they called… they get blood from somebody with AIDS and they shoot you with it. That’s [a] slow death. The Eazy-E thing, you know what I mean?”
The audience appeared to be shocked, but Knight didn’t seem fazed as he kept smoking his cigar.
According to Before It’s News, when Dr. Dre was still part of N.W.A, he was suspicious of how Eazy-E and Jerry Heller, the group’s manager at the time and played by Paul Giamatti in the film, ran their finances. Dre asked Suge Knight to look into it and asked to be let out of his contract. Eazy-E refused to let Dre walk so Knight was once again brought in to help.
Knight spread rumors about Eazy-E kidnapping Heller and when that didn’t work, he allegedly threatened Eazy-E’s family. Eventually, Eazy-E let Dr. Dre out of his contract, but the parting of ways didn’t end their rivalry. The two insulted one another through rap songs. When Eazy-E was diagnosed with AIDS, the two made amends — yet Knight didn’t seem to have ever ended his beef with the late rapper.
Knight is currently facing murder and attempted murder charges stemming from a January hit-and-run incident in Compton, California, during which he allegedly ran over Cle Sloan and Terry Carter, killing Carter and injuring Sloan. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The biopic “Straight Outta Compton,” made a $60.2 million debut this weekend, the best debut ever for an R-rated film in August. It had a production budget of $29 million. F. Gary Gray directed the film, which features O’Shea Jackson Jr. playing his real-life father, Ice Cube, in his first starring role. Newcomers Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell are Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, respectively.