Besides being one of the most well-known rappers, Tupac Shakur also had his hand in a few movie roles as an actor. While filming the 1993 movie Poetic Justice, Janet Jackson had reportedly asked the rapper to take an AIDS test before any on-screen kiss happened.
Author Jedd Pearlman alleges in his book Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur that Jackson had told producer Steve Nicolaides about her concerns.
“You know, Tupac’s reputation is that he’s a cat about town,” Jackson allegedly said at the time. “And I don’t want to swap saliva with him until I’m really sure that he’s healthy and clean.”
The book further reveals that Jackson had already spoken to Poetic Justice director John Singleton, but he had simply walked away when she brought up the AIDS test. Pearlman alleges Nicolaides spoke with Tupac about it, and the rapper did not take it well.
“I ain’t doing s— for that bitch. Tell her to go f— herself,” he reportedly answered, alongside a few more obscenities.
But Pearlman recounts in the book that Nicolaides thought Tupac got a funny kick out of the whole situation. As well as Nicolaides admitting that he found some truth in Jackson’s worry and desire for an AIDS test.
“And the truth is, I can’t blame Janet for asking. It was the early 1990s, and people were still dying of AIDS. And Tupac, God love him, had a reputation,” he said at the time.
Tupac had ultimately never taken the test, and the kiss scene happened anyway.
Poetic Justice was a romantic drama starring Jackson as the titular character, who is a poet. Mourning the loss of her boyfriend due to gun violence, she goes on a trip from South Los Angeles to Oakland on a mail truck. She’s joined by her friend (played by Regina King) and two postal workers (played by Tupac and Joe Torry).
