The Daily Mail is reporting that Prince had been diagnosed with AIDS in the months before his death. On one level that would make sense. Prince was renowned for having a pretty outrageous sex life, and his emaciated appearance in the days before his death could easily be explained by aids.
On the other hand, the source the Daily Mail is reporting from is a source identified by the National Enquirer, which is primarily known for running stories about people who were bigfoot’s love slave. So not a super reliable source.
Of course, even a broken clock is right twice a day, and the National Enquirer has occasionally been known to break a story. It helped prove that OJ Simpson owned a pair of shoes similar to those that made shoe prints at the crime scene. It helped bring down politician Gary Hart by discovering photographic evidence of an affair he was having. And it even solved the murder of Bill Cosby’s son after it offered a 100,000 dollar reward for any information related to the killer. A previously unknown witness then came forward to lead police to the murder weapon.
So it is possible that the Enquirer could be right about Prince having AIDS, and I don’t think anyone has much trouble believing that Prince, who once released a single that used the recorded noises of Kim Basinger having sex, would have had an opportunity to contract HIV in the 90’s.
It will be a few weeks before Prince’s autopsy report is released, meaning that for the time being any reports of drug abuse or AIDS or anything else being the cause of his death will have to remain speculation. Hopefully, the truth of what actually happened will come out soon and hopefully this won’t be a scoop that the National Enquirer got right.
