An angry rift has developed between music mogul Chris Lighty’s widow, Veronica Lighty, and his family and famous friends including 50 Cent, who have hired their own investigators to probe the circumstances of his death.
Lighty, the 44-year-old founder of Violator Records who managed the careers of Fiddy, Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes and LL Cool J, died in August of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, reportedly after an argument with his wife at their Riverdale home.
Sources tell us Lighty’s mother, siblings and hip-hop friends, including Russell Simmons and Sean “Diddy” Combs, “are in one camp” and can’t understand his suicide, while “the wife is on the other side,” amid growing feelings of “anger, hurt and confusion.”
“It’s a world divided,” said one source. “Even at the funeral, Veronica sat on one side in the front with her kids and her family, and the Lighty family was on the other.”
Chris and Veronica married in 2003, but she filed for divorce in 2011. She later retracted the filing and denied the pair were fighting at the time of his death. “No smart man is going to leave his children for fighting with his wife,” she told reporters. “We had a passionate relationship. We fought all the time.”
Sources tell us Lighty’s family and friends still have many questions about his death. “A lot of people want answers; a lot of things don’t really add up,” one said.
Lighty’s mother has hired lawyer Scott Leemon and private investigator Les Levine to investigate the suicide. She reached out to 50 Cent, asking him for help, and he agreed to foot the bill for the probe. Levine has worked on high-profile cases including the shooting of Amadou Diallo by Bronx police officers and the prosecution of club king Peter Gatien.
Leemon said in a statement, “I’ve been asked by Chris’ mother and many of his former clients/business associates/friends (including 50 Cent, Busta and Q-Tip) to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding his premature death.”