The Los Angeles Times has officially retracted its "Diddy knew about that attack on Tupac" story from Chuck Philips, admitting it got duped by imprisoned conman James Sabatino, hoping to save itself from a lawsuit, and making clear its reporting standards do not deserve Pulitzer Prizes. [LAT]

After publishing an article accusing Sean Combs of knowing about an 1994 assault on Tupac Shakur before it took place, based on facts later outed as completely false, the Los Angeles Times might find itself in a courtroom with Diddy's lawyer. Or at least a conference room, working out a settlement agreement over defamation charges. Nothing is certain yet, but in a statement, Diddy's attorney Howard Weitzman hinted legal action might be the next step: The "apology is, at best, a first step, but it doesn't undo the false and defamatory nature of the story, or the suspicion and innuendo that Mr. Combs has had to endure due to these untruthful allegations and the irresponsible conduct of this particular reporter." LAT owner Sam Zell might return to cursing just yet.

The Los Angeles Times hits today with a huge story accusing Sean "Diddy" Combs of knowing the assault on Tupac Shakur, at his Quad City studio in New York, was coming weeks before it went down that in November '94, escalating the bi-coastal hip-hop war. (Tupac was fatally shot in 1996.)

Writing the article is none other than Chuck Philips, who previously alleged Chris Wallace/Notorious B.I.G. was the one who put the fatal hit out on Tupac. Wallace's family vehemently denied those claims.

Philips maintains the New York-based rappers, who were supposed to be rivals themselves, knew there was going to be violence, but no shooting; only when Tupac pulled a gun did the plan go awry. And who was behind the shooting? Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, says Philips; Henchman now manages the career of The Game, among others.

Naturally, Diddy is already on the defensive. After refusing to comment for the LAT article, his label Bad Boy just issued us this statement: "This story is beyond ridiculous and is completely false. Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during, or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself. I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."

In honor of Halloween, Forbes has compiled a somewhat macabre list of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities. The artist formerly known as Elvis Presley snags the coveted number one spot (Quelle surprise!) edging out worthy competitors such as John Lennon's corpse and the ghost of Marilyn Monroe.

Meanwhile, the deceased Tupac Shakur snagged eight place, despite reportedly initiating an East Coast/West Coast rivalry "thing" with the now-soulless Godfather of Soul. [via Stereohyped]

• Really? We’d have thought that Jennifer Lopez would have been able to play an alcoholic psycopath pretty well. [E!]

• Man, if we studied Tupac Shakur in high school, we’d have so gone to class more often. [Much Music]

• Just think, Usher buys condoms in the wee hours of the morning at Duane Reade. Just like us! Er … just like you! [Page Six]

• What’s just as annoying as stepping in dog shit and hangovers? Why, James Blunt of course. [AOL]

• The funny thing is, we’d much rather read Taylor Hicks’ memoirs than anything Ann Coulter spews. [UPI]