Much to the chagrin of Madonna, a personal letter that hip hop legend Tupac Shakur wrote her over two decades ago has now been legally cleared for auction.
As reported, the pop icon lost a court battle where she was attempting to block the sale of a trove of her personal belongings, including a pair of satin underwear, a brush containing her hair and the aforementioned letter.
On Tuesday (June 4), a New York state appeals court in Manhattan ruled that although the items previously belonged to the legendary pop singer, due to a 2004 settlement agreement with her former friend and art consultant, Darlene Lutz, the latter is free to do with the items as she wishes.
Lutz consigned the 22 items in question for sale on the online auction website GottaHaveRockandRoll.com, a move that Madonna vocally opposed in court. According to reports, Madonna did not know that Lutz, who worked for her from 1981 to 2003, possessed the items until she learned about the auction’s existence.
The letter from her former boyfriend, Tupac, was dated Jan. 15, 1995, and was written while he was behind bars for sexual assault.
During the note, which will officially be available for purchase next month, the late rapper expressed that he was ending his relationship with the singer because he thought dating a white woman could jeopardize his career.
“For you to be seen with a Black man wouldn’t in any way jeopardize your career. If anything it would make you seem that much more open & exciting,” Tupac wrote in part of the letter. “But for me at least in my previous perception I felt due to my ‘image’ I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was. I never meant to hurt you.”
While it is unclear if Madonna will appeal the court’s ruling, both the letter and over a dozen personal items will go up for auction in July. Read a portion of Tupac’s letter via TMZ.