FOX has quickly responded to criticism over a mistake in its Who Shot Biggie & Tupac? documentary. The network issued an apology for misidentifying Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Commander Steven D. Katz as the lead detective in The Notorious B.I.G.’s murder case.
“In Who Shot Biggie & Tupac? a photo of Los Angeles Sheriff Department Commander Steven D. Katz was mistakenly used in the program. Fox regrets the error and extends an apology to Commander Katz and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” FOX said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
(The original version of this article was published on September 26, 2017 at 11:58 a.m. PST and can found below.)
FOX aired its investigative crime special Who Shot Biggie & Tupac? on Sunday night (September 24) and the network is already fielding public criticism from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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In a statement, the department condemned the program for falsely using a photo of Commander Steven D. Katz, an employee of the LASD. The show misidentified Commander Katz for Steve Katz, the Los Angeles Police Department’s lead detective on the Biggie Smalls murder case.
“The program incorrectly portrayed the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and its employee, Steven D. Katz, as being involved with the investigation into the death of Wallace,” the department said. “The segment defamed Katz by repeatedly showing his photograph and expressing through graphics, an indication of ‘disgrace and outrage’ into the handling of the case.”
It went on, “The program also erroneously depicted the LASD as part of the investigation by showing our employee wearing his LASD name badge and standing in front of LASD logos, and indicating several times through graphics and statements, that he was the ‘Lead Investigator of [the] Biggie Murder.’”
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The production company behind the program, Critical Content, has since issued an apology.
“Critical Content apologizes to Commander Steve Katz of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, whose photo was mistakenly included in last night’s airing of Who Shot Biggie and Tupac? He is not the Steven Katz of the Los Angeles Police Department mentioned in the program.”
Despite the company’s regret, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told The Hollywood Reporter it still demands an apology from Fox Broadcasting Company.
Elsewhere, the department also took aim at the show’s hosts, Ice-T and Soledad O’Brien, for a similar reason, saying, “[They] made derogatory comments alleging that the investigator lied and concealed files while showing photos of Commander Katz. IN FACT, neither the Sheriff’s Department nor Commander Steven D. Katz had any involvement in the investigation into the death of Wallace (Biggie).”
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Tupac was shot in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. He died six days later on September 13. The Notorious B.I.G. was shot to death in Los Angles on March 9, 1997.
The two murders remain unsolved.
