Shyne Criticized For Not Paying Off Settlement To 1999 Shooting Victim

Shyne’s career was permanently disrupted in 1999. The rapper and heir apparent to Biggie was arrested and sentenced to a decade in prison for shooting a woman named Natania Reuben. Shyne has continued to release music, but his legacy is defined by this incident. Calling it a complicated legacy, however, is an understatement. Reuben claims that Shyne did not actually shoot her, but won a settlement against the rapper for his involvement in the incident. A settlement that he’s apparently yet to pay.

Natania Reuben blasted Shyne during an interview on The Art of Dialogue. She not only called the rapper names, but declared that he still owed her money. “Shyne did not shoot me because he didn’t, but Shyne is a con artist,” she claimed. “Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, we know Shyne was innocent.’ No, you don’t know… Because he’s far from innocent.” The concept that Shyne is “innocent” is something the rapper has been quick to put forth after his release. He told Chanel 5 Belize that he took the fall for artists who were more powerful than him. Reuben dismissed this narrative as being the rapper’s attempt at political power in his native country.

“He’s going to jockey off of me,” the shooting victim asserted. “Saying Shyne didn’t shoot me to try to leverage himself to get that prime minister seat. You ain’t nothing but a penny Annie Shyer, a shady car salesman, a dressed-up fraud, a liar.” Worse, still, according to Reuben, the rapper has yet to make good on his financial responsibilities. The victim claimed that the rapper is driving a Maybach around Belize, yet has not paid her what she is owed. “You still owe me money,” Reuben added. “In the settlement, Shyne was responsible… He didn’t have the money to pay [then].”

Natania Reuben was paid $1.8M by Diddy, however, after the incident. It was a sizable amount, but it also prompted decades of alleged harassment against Reuben at the mogul’s behest. The victim claimed that Diddy flattened the tires on her vehicle on several occasions. “Not only did he pew pew me in the face,” she stated. “He also set off a course of harassment against me for the past 24 years.” Diddy has repeatedly denied these claims.