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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Jacob Stolworthy

Tupac's break-up letter to Madonna goes to auction, starting at £100,000

The love letter Madonna received from her ex-boyfriend, the late rapper Tupac Shakur, has gone to auction.

The intimate note was part of a collection of intimate personal items including cassettes and a hairbrush with strands of her hair, which was put up for auction by her former friend Darlene Lutz. 

You can read it in full here.

Bidding on the breakup letter, which was written a year before Tupac’s death while he was in prison in 1995, had reached $100,000 (£72,000) in July 2017 when Madonna filed an emergency court order over Gotta Have Rock and Roll’s auction. 

Madonna won a temporary block on the sale of 22 items in July 2016 – telling a New York City court her celebrity stature “does not obviate my right to maintain my privacy, including with regard to highly personal items”.

But the musician’s lawsuit against Ms Lutz has was later thrown out by New York judge Gerald Lebovits.

He said the statute of limitation to recover her items had passed and ruled that Madonna misdirected her legal action by targeting Ms Lutz – a New York art dealer who helped Madonna build a collection before the pair fell out.

The star claimed she had no idea Ms Lutz was in possession of the letter until she heard about the online sale. 

The pair fell out in 2003, and after settling a legal dispute over artwork the following year, Madonna signed a release from “any and all” future claims against her former friend, Judge Lebovits said in his ruling.

Lutz, a breast cancer survivor, will donate a portion of the proceeds breastcancer.org.  

Bidding begins online on 17 July.

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