A superfan of Tupac Shakur reportedly lost his position as director of Iowa’s social services agency after inundating co-workers with emails about the slain rapper.
Jerry Foxhoven, 66, who held the position for the last two years, lost his job last month after being asked to resign by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds on June 17, according to the Associated Press, per Fox News in a piece published Wednesday. (RELATED: Watch The Latest Trailer For The Upcoming Tupac Film ‘All Eyez On Me’)
Rap music star Tupac Shakur died September 13, six days after being shot four times while riding in a car in Las Vegas…Reuters Images/Mike Segar
It came after he reportedly sent out an agency-wide email to 4,300 employees and the message encouraged employees to mark the late rapper’s birthday by listening to one of the “Dear Mama” hitmaker’s songs. (RELATED: Madonna Opens Up About 2015 Album Leak, Says She Felt ‘Raped’)
Per the outlet:
In the email, which featured a large image of a smiling Shakur, Foxhoven asked employees to mark the “Hit Em Up” rapper’s birthday that weekend by listening to one of his songs. He also noted the occasion of his two-year anniversary as director and thanked the staff for their work.
The director reportedly made it a habit of sending messages to co-workers that included lyrics and quotes from Tupac’s songs. Some 350 pages of emails obtained by the outlet showed that the former director also hosted weekly “Tupac Fridays” during which time he would play the rapper’s music in the office.
He even reportedly marked his 65th birthday with Shakur-themed cookies and some were decorated with the words “Thug life” on them. And he reportedly shared the “Changes” performer’s lyrics about love on Valentine’s Day.
A spokesperson for the governor’s office would not confirm or deny the Shakur messages were the reason for Foxhoven’s dismissal.
“As the governor has said, a lot of factors contributed to the resignation of Jerry Foxhoven and now Gov. Reynolds is looking forward to taking DHS in a new direction,” Pat Garrett told the AP.
Foxhoven told the news agency he doesn’t believe he lost his position because of the rapper’s emails and that he believed Reynolds just decided “to go in a different direction.”