Jerry Heller is ready to clear his name. During a recent interview, the former manager addressed various topics, including allegations that he was stealing from N.W.A. and Eazy-E's untimely death. He even discussed Suge Knight and insisted that he had Tupac killed.
In the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, Heller is portrayed as a divisive business figure by a convincing Paul Giamatti. The group's financial mismanagement and ultimate disbandment are greatly attributed to Heller's seemingly shady business affairs, which he denounced not long ago.
"You can’t steal in this business," he explained to SMASHD. "Either you have a good deal, or you don’t. If you don’t, when you have a hit, you re-negotiate. Everybody signs their contract to N.W.A. They split the net five ways. You can’t penalize Eazy because he owns the company. You can’t penalize Dre because he writes all the music. Now they’re acting like it was nothing. No matter what Cube says, they had a great deal. The average deal those days was somewhere between seven and 12 percent for everybody. They were getting $75,000 each, because I made the deal."
Back in August, Heller hinted at possible litigation after seeing Compton. The music business veteran revealed that he was not invited to the interview sessions prior to filming and apparently disagrees with his on-screen portrayal.
The film, which chronicles the gangsta rap group's rise to fame, also highlights Eazy-E's short battle with AIDS. The movie's release has rekindled speculations surrounding the rapper's death, namely a rumor that Suge Knight was involved. Heller was seemingly dismissive of reports that Eazy was injected with the virus but he's firm that Knight played a part somehow.
Elsewhere, Heller discussed the death of another legendary West coast rapper and the still-unsolved murder of Tupac. He revealed that he believes that Knight put the hit out on Tupac. "He absolutely did. Unquestionably put the hit on him," Heller said. "Pulled Tupac in front of him, that’s how he got the glass in his head. You don’t think the cops could have solved this if they wanted to?"
In September, a retired cop made headlines with claims that he and Knight helped Shakur fake his death after a Las Vegas shooting.
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