Island/Def Jam Chairman and CEO Lyor Cohen has
broken his silence regarding a federal investigation swirling around Murder
Inc., and his relationship with Irv Gotti.
While Murder Inc. is leaving the Universal Def
Jam offices, Cohen says it’s not due to any tension between the two executives.
"Murder Inc. is going to move offices,"
Cohen told AllHipHop.com. "It’s only because of office space. They are
growing. They have a producers division, they have a film company, they have
a touring company. I don’t know how all of this got twisted."
Reports, including one on AllHipHop.com, speculated
that the split was possibly due to an ongoing federal investigation into whether
or not Murder Inc. has participated in laundering drug profits for Kenneth "Supreme"
McGriff.
Gotti has publicly accused Cohen of not supporting
him enough, a charge Cohen said had nothing to do with the federal investigation.
"In a relationship you have positive moments
and negative moments," Cohen said. "It had everything to do with him
feeling I didn’t promote Ja- Rule well as I should have, that’s all."
Reports have surfaced, claiming that authorities
are looking into whether or not Jam Master Jay was gunned down due to a feud
between Murder Inc. and 50 Cent.
"This is an unsolved murder. I know that
Irv has not done any criminal activity. I have known the kid for over ten years.
I know his family. He grew up blocks away from Jam Master Jay. He idolized him.
Jay was the one who influenced Irv to start DJ’ing. Why would he want to harm
him?"
Federal investigators have been probing the company
for over four months. In February, Island/Def Jam was ordered to turn over royalty
records, invoices, and other information that may help the feds link Gotti to
McGriff.
"Supreme paid his debt to society,"
Cohen said. "He was simply trying to get into business. All of a sudden
everybody gets broadsided with this."
"I know Irv’s situation, I know all the
details," Cohen continued. "The feds have been investigating this
for 4 months. They have every bit of information and I don’t think they will
find any wrong doing. Irv is not a criminal."
When asked if it was possible that the legendary
DJ was gunned down due to any issues with McGriff, Cohen replied that he and
Jay were intimate and McGriff was never discussed.
"I don’t know about any of that. I believe
its completely unrelated. Jay never mentioned anything about Supreme, ever.
All we can do is hope that everyone is cooperative and will give the police
any information they may have."
