Publisher Defends Tupac Autopsy Photo

Original: “Book publisher defends Shakur photo” · Las Vegas Sun · Ed Koch · September 9, 1997

One day after the release of Cathy Scott’s book The Killing of Tupac Shakur, trouble erupted over a photo from the coroner’s office: the volume printed Tupac’s body on the autopsy table, with deep surgical cuts across his chest and head. The Clark County Coroner’s office demanded an investigation into who had passed the photo to Scott-yet the publisher defended printing it.

Not for Effect, but an Answer

Anthony Curtis, owner of publishing house Huntington Press, remained unfazed: “This does not really scare me, we considered this before publication.” They had weighed the matter before printing. His reasoning: the photo was not for effect, but an answer. “There is an enormous rumor that Tupac is alive”: the rumor that Tupac was still alive was massive, and this picture answered the question.

The only thing that surprised him was the accusation that the photo had been obtained unlawfully. The publisher paid nothing for it. Scott emphasized that she received the photo legally and free of charge; she did not name her source. According to her book, tabloid newspapers offered up to $100,000 for such a picture shortly after his death. At the end, the article cited the figures: 2,000 to 3,000 pre-orders, with an initial print run of 25,000 copies.

Investigation Without Result: No One Held Accountable

The Metro Police internal investigation ended a few weeks later without result: several police and coroner’s office employees were questioned, and no one was held accountable (see Metro closes probe into the Shakur photo).

The Photo Did Not End the Rumors

The photo did not achieve Curtis’s goal. The myth that Tupac staged his death persisted for decades-fueled by posthumous albums, the pseudonym Makaveli, and number games around the “7”.

For fans, the picture remains a point of contention: to some, it is a document; to others, a breach of the deceased’s dignity. The archive deliberately does not display the photograph.