Did Jimmy Henchman Order Suge Knight Shot in 2005?

suge knight smoking a cigar 2007 — Getty Images

Both Jimmy Henchman and Suge Knight are notoriously known for their street dealings when it comes to their role in the hip hop community, and the two have a history of crossing paths. While both music executives are currently serving time behind bars, there is still a lot of light shed on them when veteran OGs tell stories that involve them.

Veteran industry photographer Johnny Nunez recently sat down for an interview with Jeff and Eric Rosenthal of ItsTheReal for their A Waste of Time podcast, and he shared a few memorable stories about his time as a trusted photographer in the game over the past few decades. One of the tales in particular caught listeners’ attention, as Nunez described the night of Kanye West’s VMA party in in 2005 that left Knight with a bullet wound in the right leg.

Around the 50:43 mark in the below podcast, the iconic photographer tells the story of how he came across Henchman, who was managing The Game at the time, at the same party and noticed he saw Knight, who had beef with the Compton rapper, near the bar. According to Nunez, Henchman brought the photographer over with him to come face-to-face with the former Death Row CEO just before shots went off. His description of what occurred, however, alludes to Henchman possibly knowing of the incident before it went down.

“About a few weeks prior, or maybe the year before, Kanye West… The Shore Club… I’ll never forget, because it was very vivid,” he described. “Jimmy [Henchman] was there, who manages The Game at the time. He says, ‘Come with me. I want you to get this photograph.’ I just saw Suge Knight by the bar. I said, ‘Jimmy, I don’t think it’s a wise idea for you to go over there.’ He says, ‘Nah, it’s a wise idea. Get your camera. When I give you the head nod, I want you to get this photo.’ I’m like, ‘Okay.’ So next thing I know, I follow him, and there’s Suge Knight leaned up against the bar, and with his talented blow, he’d make a perfect circle of a cigar smoke. And I’m like, ‘Oh shit, what the hell?’ So next thing I know, I saw Suge inhale, and when he exhaled, he blew out a perfect circular ring of smoke right into Jimmy’s face. Then, Jimmy did one head nod to the left, and then looked at me and did one head nod to me, and I’m like, ‘What am I shooting?’ Some guy with a musket just comes from behind Suge, and BOOM! Shoots him right there.”

This isn’t the first time Knight has faced controversy that left him with bullet wounds. Back in 2014, the former executive was shot at during a VMA pre-party at 1Oak, which Chris Brown was hosting. He is currently facing a murder trial and is being held in prison until a verdict is reached.