Remember the East Coast vs. West Coast rap wars during the mid-1990s that lead to the eventual deaths of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur?

Well, don’t blame Sean “P. Diddy” Combs for the violence!

The Los Angeles Times put an apology on its front page today, after reporting on March 17 that Combs and others were behind a 1994 attack on Shakur that kicked off the rap wars. The newspaper says its report “was partially based on documents that appear to have been fabricated.”

This, after Web site www.TheSmokingGun.com reported the L.A. Times had been fooled by con man — and current federal prisoner — Jimmy Sabatino. The Web site reports Sabatino provided forged FBI documents to the newspaper, one of a very long list of scams by the felon. The site also reports that Sabatino’s many other crimes include conning Nextel out of 1000 cell phones — and doing it while already behind bars on another charge.

In addition to discussing this story with Shepard Smith on FOX Report at 7:45pmET, I’ll be visiting Sabatino’s MySpace page, where he claims he helped launched the career of the Notorious B.I.G. Check it out if you dare, but remember, don’t fall for any cons!

While I’m researching the story, some of the men named in the article may be preparing lawsuits against the Times. Diddy’s lawyer has made statements that may indicate a libel suit is in the works. The lawyer for a talent manager named in the article stated Wednesday that the reporter and editors behind the story should “immediately print an apology and get out their checkbooks — or brace themselves for an epic lawsuit.”