Yahoo News Fact Check: Post Claim Jim Carrey Wrote Funny Letters to Tupac When He Was in Prison. Here's What Happened
Claim:
Jim Carrey wrote funny letters to Tupac Shakur when the rapper was in prison.
Rating:
In May 2024, a rumor went viral on Reddit, claiming that actor Jim Carrey wrote funny letters to the rapper Tupac Shakur when he was incarcerated. "When Tupac was in jail, Jim Carrey used to write him funny letters in an attempt to cheer him up. Tupac was a huge fan of the comedian," an image in the post read:
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The same claim has circulated online for years, on platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest. "According to a 2017 report, Jim Carrey – who happened to be the iconic rapper's favourite actor – took it upon himself to write his friend letters while he was in jail," one viral Instagram post claimed. Some of the posts were accompanied by a fake photograph of Carrey and Shakur we debunked in May 2024. The rumor was also reposted by numerous websites.
In short, because we have found no demonstrable evidence to support the claim that Carrey wrote funny letters to Shakur when he was incarcerated, and it originated as a groundless rumor, we have rated this claim as "Unfounded."
In 1995, a judge sentenced Skaur to 1½ to 4½ years in prison for sexually abusing a fan. A Vintage News post on the topic claimed that Shakur received letters from Carrey while in prison, but "Carrey has refused to share their contents" (emphasis ours):
By the time he was imprisoned, Tupac Shakur had long been entrenched in the Hollywood lifestyle, developing friendships with many famous individuals, including Mike Tyson and Jim Carrey. As aforementioned, he kept in contact with the latter while he was incarcerated.
It's alleged Carrey contacted the rapper on several occasions, with the two eventually becoming close confidantes. Unsurprisingly, the letters the actor to Shakur wrote were on the comedic side, providing some much-needed light relief during what was a rather difficult time in Shakur's life.
While he's been asked what he wrote in the letters, Carrey has refused to share their contents, showing the mutual respect the two had for each other while Shakur was alive.
Similarly, a post on the Hip Hop Hero website claimed "Carrey has repeatedly refused to share these documents that he sent to Shakur, and it remains a mystery what precisely he said." An account on X, Letters of Note, wrote: "Reminds me: I wrote to Jim Carrey a few years back, to ask him about the letters he and Tupac Shakur used to send each other. No reply. Sad!"
However, we have not found any reliable sources confirming that Carrey ever wrote letters to Shakur or refused to share them. Moreover, we have not found any confirmation that Tupac ever said Carrey was his favorite actor, as viral posts and articles claimed.
"I've read this story a million times over the last 20+ years, but I still don't know if it's true. PAC never mentioned it nor have I heard Jim Carrey talk about it. Also the photo is fake. That's Mickey Rourke with Jim Carrey's head," one Instagram user commented under a post with the fake photograph of the pair.
In August 2023, the YouTube channel 03'n8 published a video with the title "Jim Carrey and Tupac (probably) weren't friends" on the topic, investigating not only whether Carrey actually wrote to Shakur, but also whether the two were even friends.
The video underscored that neither Shakur nor Carrey ever spoke publicly about exchanging letters. Its author found that the book "Got Your Back: Protecting Tupac in the World of Gangsta Rap" by Frank Alexander mentions only that Shakur loved Carrey and used to imitate him. Another book, "Original Gangstas," the video reports, included the sentence: "He got mail from Jim Carrey and Tony Danza, the latter of whom urged him to stay strong." However, the book's author wrote in an email to the video's creator that he could not determine where he got that information.
We have reached out to Carrey's representatives, as well as the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, and will update this article if we receive a response.
We've fact-checked other Shakur-related claims in the past. For instance, in April 2024, we investigated a photograph allegedly showing him posing next to Jada Pinkett Smith in high school. In October 2023, we debunked a photograph purportedly showing Shakur posing next to Osama bin Laden
Sources:
03'n8. Jim Carrey and Tupac (Probably) Weren't Friends. 2023. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuDQ1ng7p80.
James, George. "Rapper Faces Prison Term For Sex Abuse." The New York Times, 8 Feb. 1995. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/08/nyregion/rapper-faces-prison-term-for-sex-abuse.html.
Wrona, Aleksandra. "Is This a Real Pic of Tupac with Osama Bin Laden?" Snopes, 21 Oct. 2023, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/osama-bin-laden-tupac-pic/.
---. "Photo Shows Tupac Shakur and Jada Pinkett Smith in High School?" Snopes, 17 Apr. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/tupac-jada-pinkett-smith-high-school/.
---. "Viral Photo Shows Jim Carrey and Tupac Shakur Clubbing Together?" Snopes, 20 May 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/tupac-and-jim-carrey/.
