Eazy-E’s daughter, Ree, called out hip-hop journalist DJ Vlad for using the late rapper’s obituary alongside his post about AIDS awareness on Instagram.com on Thursday.
“Rest In Peace #eazye. #hiv and #aids are real. Use a condom,” Vlad wrote. “Get yourself and your partner tested.”
Eazy-E founded Ruthless Records record label in 1986 and he is one of the co-founders of the iconic rap group N.W.A.
Officially, Eazy, whose real name is Eric Wright, died of AIDS-related pneumonia on March 26, 1995 at age 31.
In a video posted to her Instagram account, Ree lashed out at DJ Vlad for using her father’s death to promote AIDS awareness.
“In reference to that post that lame a** dude posted. For you to post my dad’s obituary, and say ‘rest in peace’, but to follow after talking about some AIDS is real, use a condom. He knows because he’s spoken to a few members of my family, in reference to my dad, and knows that it’s not AIDS that killed my father. That sh*t pisses me off.”
DJ Vlad responded to the controversy, saying there are many theories about how Eazy died: “Suge Knight or the CIA secretly killed Eazy, I do not subscribe to this theory,” he wrote.
He concluded: “It’s been almost 25 years since Eazy’s passing and there’s still no cure for AIDS. Let’s make sure that his very important words have a positive effect on people’s lives and aren’t overshadowed by conspiracy theories.”
Eazy was admitted to Cedars-Sinai in February 1995 complaining of shortness of breath and wheezing.
After he was diagnosed with full blown AIDS, Eazy released a statement through his publicist confirming his diagnosis. According to those in the know at the time, Eazy released the information as a public service announcement to the many women he slept with so they could get tested for the virus.
Eazy fathered 7 children with 6 women. None of his children or the women he had sex with are known to be HIV-positive. His youngest son was a year old when he died. His wife, Tomika, gave birth to their daughter 6 months after his death.
This led to doubts that Eazy died of AIDS – since no one else in his immediate family contracted the virus.
People with HIV develop AIDS (or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) when they are diagnosed with an opportunistic infection, including pneumonia, tuberculosis, or other infections specific to AIDS.
According to Justin Goforth, the director of community relations for Whitman Walker Health, about one-third of children are born HIV-positive to an HIV-positive mother.
Goforth, a registered nurse who was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1992, said, “By an order of magnitude, literally, it’s easier to get HIV through receptive anal intercourse than it is through vaginal intercourse. If no one’s engaging in anal sex at all in a relationship between a man and a woman, it’s very plausible that for quite a while, for years, that the female partner could not get infected.”
