The coronavirus has an unprecedented number of people filing for unemployment.
With such a rush of applications comes fraud. At a press conference yesterday, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear called out one particular cheat.
“We had somebody apply for unemployment for Tupac Shakur here in Kentucky. And that person may have thought they were being funny, they probably did. Except for the fact that because of them, we had to go through so many other claims.”
It turns out it was no joke or scheme. There is a man in Kentucky named Tupac Shakur who had lost his job and he wasn't happy when Beshear called him out.
“I’m hurt, I’m really embarrassed and I’m shocked,” Shakur said after hearing Beshear's attack. “He needs to apologize. That’s just my name.”
Today, Beshear did apologize.
“I owe somebody an apology tonight. Last night I spent a little bit of time talking about fraudulent claims holding us up. I mentioned an individual that filed in the name of Tupac Shakur. I didn’t know, and it’s my fault, that we have a Kentuckian who goes by Malik whose name is Tupac Shakur. I talked to him on the phone today, I apologized. I told him how it happened, but I owned it. It’s my fault. He was gracious. I said I’m sorry if I embarrassed him or caused him any attention he didn’t want. He was very kind," the governor siad.
Shakur is 46, so he got his name long before the other 2Pac got famous.