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And Finally Artist News
Did Iowa social services chief lose his job for loving Tupac too much?
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 18 July 2019
A government employee in Iowa may have lost his job as director of the American state’s social services agency for being just too big a fan of Tupac Shakur.
The Associated Press has obtained a stack of emails, sent by Iowa Department Of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven to his colleagues, which include accolades to the late hip hop star and his music. And last month, it seems, the director even sent one such email to all 4300 employees of the government agency. He lost his job the next day.
The AP says that Foxhaven told his former colleagues that he had been a huge fan of Shakur for years. And to further that fandom, he reportedly hosted weekly Tupac Fridays in his office, traded lyrics with other employees, and marked his own 65th birthday by sharing out Shakur-themed cookies.
A spokesperson for the state’s governor, Kim Reynolds, has declined to confirm or deny whether Foxhaven sharing his Shakur love with all 4300 employees of the agency he ran contributed to the decision to pressure the director to resign. Though there were a number of factors behind that decision, said spokesperson added.
The AP reports that some colleagues liked Foxhoven’s frequent Shakur referencing, although some weren’t so keen on the constant Tupac chat. For his part, Foxhoven told the AP that he hadn’t been given a reason as to why Reynolds wanted him to depart, but that he didn’t think the Shakur love was a factor. Instead the governor just wanted to take the agency he ran in a different direction.