Janet Jackson Requested Tupac Shakur Take AIDS test During ’Poetic Justice’ Filming,New Biography Reveals
A new book claims Janet Jackson expressed concerns about Tupac Shakur’s reputation and requested he undergo an AIDS test before engaging in intimate scenes with her during the 1993 filming of “Poetic Justice.” the revelation, detailed in the forthcoming biography ”Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur,” sheds light on behind-the-scenes tensions on the set of the critically acclaimed film and underscores the pervasive fear surrounding the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s.
The request, relayed through Steve Nicolaides – a producer on the film - stemmed from Jackson’s anxieties about Shakur’s well-known playboy lifestyle. According to Nicolaides, Jackson told her then-fiancé, René Elizondo Jr., that she was unwilling to “swap saliva with him until I’m really sure that he’s healthy and clean.” Nicolaides then approached Shakur with the request, which was met with a reportedly profane refusal.
the book details that Shakur responded with an expletive-laden tirade directed at Jackson before outright rejecting the demand for testing. Despite the friction, “Poetic Justice” proved a commercial success, grossing $27 million at the box office on a budget of approximately $13.5 million and remaining a beloved film among fans. The incident highlights the climate of fear surrounding HIV/AIDS during the early 1990s, a period when the disease was still running rampant and carried significant stigma. Nicolaides noted that, given Shakur’s public persona, Jackson’s request was not unreasonable.
