It’s been nearly 40 years since Bob Marley’s tragic passing but many fans remain unconvinced about the circumstances leading to his death. And now, hip hop stars T.I and Busta Rhymes revived a conspiracy theory that the reggae icon was assassinated by the CIA. Marley died in 1981. His official cause of death is listed as acral lentiginous melanoma which originated under the nail of his toe. At the time, physicians recommended having the toe amputated, however, the devout Rastafarian opposed the surgery. Taking to Instagram, T.I shared a news story from an unidentified source with his 8.9million followers about former CIA agent Bill Oxley allegedly confessing from his deathbed.
The post alleged that Oxley intentionally infected The No Woman No Cry singer toe with cancer during one of 17 assassinations he claimed to have carried out for the US government between 1974 and 1985. In the now debunked article, Oxley is quoted as saying he used fake press credentials to pose as New York Times photographer to get close to the Jamaican singer-songwriter at his Blue Mountains retreat. ‘He was succeeding in creating a revolution that used music as a more powerful tool than bullets and bombs,’ Oxley reportedly said.
T.I., who is known for his lengthy captions in his posts, simply wrote: ‘I’m just gon leave this here…’ Naturally, the upload triggered debates amongst his social media following. While many commentators were adamant that Marley was killed because of his criticism of the CIA, others remained sceptical. One person wrote: “Some people believe and some don’t, but I really think you should delete this.”