Eazy-E's Family Is Trying to Fund a Documentary About the Rapper's Death

Eazy-E's daughter Ebie Wright is trying to raise money for an investigative film about her father's death.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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More than two decades after Eazy-E passed away, his family has embarked on a mission to reveal what they believe led to his death.

At the age of 35, the N.W.A. rapper died due to AIDS-related complications; however, his daughter Ebie Wright insists there’s a much darker story behind his passing, and she’s looking for help to tell that story.

According to Rolling Stone, Ebie, her mother Tracy Jernagin, and half-sister, Erica have launched a Kickstarter campaign to deliver an investigative documentary called A Ruthless Scandal: No More Lies. Ebie said the film will present “jaw dropping” facts surrounding her father’s death as well as address the alleged lies and inconsistencies his fans have been told throughout the years.

“The stories that we're telling are mainly about the scandal surrounding my father's death," Ebie explained to Rolling Stone. "But we also wanted to show his accomplishments, his personal life and, really, the aftermath of his demise and what happened to us. We never felt the story that was told to the public was the truth. It's just something that has always pained us."

The film is said to explore the rumor that Eazy-E was murdered after being injected with HIV-infected blood. The theory stems from a 2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview with Death Row Records founder Suge Knight.

“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 told Kimmel. “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.”

Since that interview, more and more people—including Eazy-E’s son, Eric Wright—have claimed Suge orchestrated a plan to infect the rapper with HIV. Former Ruthless Records artist Frost made similar claims during a 2015 interview with For the Record, insisting Eazy-E was infected with the virus during his acupuncture treatments:

"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 in the video. “Have you even heard of somebody dying in two weeks of AIDS bro? Come on, man. It's unheard of, bro."

Medical experts have since pointed out the holes in the acupuncture theory. Shortly after Frost’s interview surfaced, VICE spoke with Wilmore Webley, a microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who explained why the theory didn’t add up. He said an acupuncture needle did not have the shaft or reservoir for the virus to survive, "so the probability of it actually storing enough blood or serum with enough viral particles in there to lead to an infection is extremely low."

It’s unclear if A Ruthless Scandal will address this specific theory; however, Ebie insists the film will present information that the public hasn’t heard. The project will include court documents and testimonials from those who were close to Eazy-E.

"We're not accusing anyone, but maybe they want to tell their side," Jernagin said. "This is going to be very objective. We're not going to point fingers. We just want to present the facts and let people make their own evaluation of it."

Eazy-E’s family is trying to raise $250,000 to complete and distribute the documentary. As of Saturday evening, they had received a little over $2,800 in pledges. To learn more about the Kickstarter, and how to contribute to it, click here. You can also check out a promo for A Ruthless Scandal above.

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