Andy Beshear, the governer of Kentucky, apologized yesterday to Tupac Shakur, a resident of the state he had falsely suggested was a “bad apple” benefits claimant. Beshear assumed Shakur's name was a fabrication borrowed from the long-dead East Harlem rapper, and shamed him at a press conference where he complained about people exploiting the system. But Shakur is in fact a real person from Lexington, and he still hasn't gotten his unemployment check.
Tupac Malik Shakur, 46, goes by Malik. He lives in Lexington and worked as a cook at Alfalfa’s and Lynagh’s in Lexington before they closed to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
On March 13, the first day he could, he applied for unemployment insurance. On March 17, he got his monetary determination letter. He has been waiting on his unemployment money ever since.
“I’ve been struggling for like the last month trying to figure out how to pay the bills,” Shakur said.
Beshear says he phoned him to apologize in person, and will make sure Shakur gets his benefits.
