Suge Knight Reveals Bizarre Post-Death Ritual Involving Tupac's Remains: 'It Was Symbolic'

Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur's death, Suge Knight is sharing new – and strange – details about what happened in the hours that followed.

Speaking from prison during a recent phone interview with PEOPLE, the former Death Row Records boss claimed that friends of the late rapper rolled his ashes into a blunt and smoked them in a posthumous ritual. Knight, serving time for a 2015 hit-and-run, said it was all done with Tupac's mother's blessing.

According to Knight, Afeni Shakur ordered her son's immediate cremation following his death in September 1996. Knight said he paid more than $1 million in cash to make it happen. "A bag with his ashes was passed around," he explained. "His homies rolled him up. They smoked him."

Knight said the act wasn't meant to be disrespectful; in his view, it carried meaning. "It was symbolic," he added. "It's like... you keep part of him."

Knight Recalls the Night Tupac Was Shot

Tupac took four bullets on September 7, 1996, and was critically wounded as he rode in the passenger seat of Knight's BMW. The pair had just left the MGM Grand after catching the conclusion of Tyson's highly anticipated bout when suddenly a dark Cadillac crept alongside on the Las Vegas streets and unleashed a barrage of gunfire.

He remembered stepping out of the car and trying to explain what had happened to the police, despite bleeding from the head. He then went to help Tupac, unbuckling his seatbelt as paramedics arrived.

Both were taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. Knight was treated and released, while Tupac underwent two surgeries. One of his lungs was removed. He died six days later at just 25.

Tupac's Death Remains a Focus Decades Later

For more than two decades, the case lay cold, the killer's identity unknown, fueling endless speculation.

But in 2023, a breakthrough was made, as police in Vegas charged Duane "Keefe D" Davis, who had long proclaimed knowledge of the murderous act. Davis now sits awaiting his day in court, maintaining his innocence against the charges while locked away and slated for trial in 2026.

Knight didn't say when exactly the alleged ashes-smoking ritual happened, but said he couldn't take part. "I was on probation — I couldn't smoke," he told PEOPLE. "I told his mother, 'Moms, I'd love to, but if I hit that, I'll get in trouble.'"

"I was probably the only one who didn't hit him."

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Suge Knight, Tupac Shakur, Tupac