A New Documentary Aims to Find Out Who Gave Eazy-E AIDS

by Paul Resnikoff

Eric ‘Eazy-E’ Wright died of AIDS in late 90s. But did he really get it from unprotected sex?

When it comes to controversial rap icons, Eric ‘Eazy E’ Wright is one of the most celebrated.  Called the ‘Godfather of Gangsta Rap,’ Eazy E played an influential role in creating one of the most influential groups, N.W.A, while also enjoying a celebrated solo career.  He’s also credited with spawning other mega-careers, including the Cleveland-based Bone Thugs N’ Harmony.

Without Eazy-E, the rap world might be a lot different today.

But while alive, Eazy E’s life resembled a warzone.  The rapper had dangerous beefs involving rival members of N.W.A, including Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.  And that was just the start of a list of business, gang, and other sworn (and armed) enemies.

So how did this iconic rapper really die?

That is now the focus of a new documentary project being headed by Eazy E’s daughter, Ebie Wright.  Ebie, who was a young girl at the time of her father’s death, is challenging the accepted belief that Eric Wright contracted and succumbed to AIDS because of a reckless and unprotected sexual appetite.

This week, Ebie Wright initiated a Kickstarter campaign seeking $250,000 to investigate the real story.  The documentary, to be titled ‘A Ruthless Scandal: No More Lies,’ plans to unravel a potential conspiracy that led to Wright’s death.  “Now I know you’re all thinking, didn’t Eazy-E die of AIDS?” Wright poses.  “So what scandal was there, right?’”

“Well, if he did die of AIDS, why was there so much cover up surrounding the details of his death?”

Interesting.  Ebie lays out the following issues that suggest a strange cover-up in the moments ahead of his passing.

1. Eazy-E was diagnosed with AIDS just three weeks before he died.
2. The rapper was immediately isolated in a separate ward of the hospital, sequestered away from his friends and family.
3. Eazy-E’s attorney of only two months drafted a living will while the rapper lays on his deathbed.
4. 12 days before Eazy’s death, a ‘secret marriage’ was arranged.
5. One week prior to Eazy’s death, Wright’s estate is ‘looted’ of valuable possessions.
6. After Eric Wright’s death, one person walked away with everything, according to Ebie (most likely a reference to Tomica Woods).

All of which suggests a coordinated attack by a group of people hostile to Eazy-E, a coalition that stood to gain profitably from his death.

One longtime theory is the use of a purposeful, lethal injection.  Earlier, a former rapper on Wright’s Ruthless Records, Frost, suggested that Eazy-E was purposefully injected with the AIDS virus after suffering a motorcycle accident.  “I think they really had a stronghold of giving him tainted needles with the AIDS virus in them through acupuncture, because how else could somebody die that fast of AIDS?” Frost asked.

“Have you even heard of somebody dying in two weeks of AIDS bro? Come on, man. It’s unheard of, bro.”

Frost’s theory has been heavily debunked.  Wilmore Webley, a microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently told Vice that acupuncture rarely punctures hard enough to inject a disease, while the needles themselves probably couldn’t carry enough blood to transmit the disease.

But that is only one possible theory, and the virus could have been maliciously injected through other means.  Eazy-E surviving son Marquis Wright, aka Yung Eazy, alleges that his father was killed by Suge Knight.  Marquis cited a recent interview between the notoriously violent rap manager and Jimmy Kimmel:

“This the new thing, right? So, if somebody gonna do something to somebody, technology is so high, right? So, you shoot somebody, you go to jail forever,” Knight said. “Kids, you don’t want to go to jail forever, right? So, they got this new thing out, people sell ’em all the time. They get this stuff they call — they get blood from somebody with AIDS — and then they shoot you with it. That’s the slow death.”

Others are also deeply suspicious, and suspect a coordinated conspiracy to murder the famous (and wealthy) rapper.  Jerry Heller, the one-time manager of N.W.A and a longtime confidant of Eric Wright, openly questioned how such a quick death could be possible.  “Do I think that something fishy happened to Eazy?  Absolutely,” Heller said in an interview before his recent death.  “I don’t believe for a second that someone who had as much money as we did, and could afford whatever Magic Johnson could, who doesn’t even test positive anymore…

“I don’t believe that he could have possibly died that quickly from full blown AIDS.”

But who were the conspirators involved, and what really happened?  Problematically, these events transpired more than twenty years ago, which makes it incredibly difficult to unearth records, communications, and other details pertinent to the case.  Authorities like the LAPD have not followed any leads, at least that we’re aware of.  And statutes of limitations also start to apply after longer periods of time, making this an incredibly difficult undertaking.

Another major complication is the death of Heller himself, who recently passed away at age 75 earlier this month.  Heller undoubtedly had knowledge and resources to properly pursue this matter, though Ebie indicated that a number of Wright’s older associates and colleagues are now willing to speak out.

In the end, Ebie asserts that this was a murder, not an accidental death, and aims to show that in the film.  “I don’t believe it was just a simple as ‘my father had AIDS and died,” Ebie said.  “There was definitely something fishy about it.  I really believe that my father was murdered.”

“There are so many rumors, so many stories, and crazy conspiracy theories out there,” Ebie continued.  “But everyone has come to their own conclusion, without knowing all of the facts that this documentary will reveal.”

 

The funds would be used for a deep criminal investigation, which will of course be documented.  The Kickstarter campaign is here, with funding late Friday of $750 from 21 donors.