Madonna grabbed headlines by revealing back in 2015 that she had briefly dated Tupac Shakur – but a new letter written by the late rapper shows that things were a lot deeper between them than people suspected, revealing that he dumped the singer because of the colour of her skin.

Sections of a previously unseen letter written to Madonna by Tupac while he was in jail in 1995 that is due to be auctioned off by Gotta Have Rock and Roll later this month, with a starting bid of $100,000, were published by TMZ on Wednesday (July 5th).

MadonnaMadonna at the 2017 Met Gala

“I've waited a long time 2 finally write this mainly because I was struggling to find all the answers that I wouldn't leave any unanswered questions. First and foremost, I must apologize to you because like you said I haven't been the kind of friends I know I am capable of being.”

Later in the letter, he explains that he broke off his sexual relationship with Madge in 1993 because of her race.

“Can u understand that? For you to be seen with a black man wouldn't in any way jeopardize your career. If anything it would make you seem that much more open & exciting,” he continued. “But for me at least in my previous perception I felt due to my 'image' I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was. I never meant to hurt you.”

More: Madonna’s Rebel Heart world tour is finally coming to DVD this fall

“Please understand my previous position as that of a young man with limited experience with an extremely famous sex symbol,” he added.

Shakur was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996 at the age of 25, leading to endless speculation about conspiracies to do with his death. A biopic movie, All Eyez On Me, has recently been released in cinemas.

Madonna told Howard Stern in 2015, revealing that she’d dated Tupac three years before his death.

“One time I was mad at [Letterman] when I said the f-word a lot, but the rest of the time was good. I was in a weird mood that day. I was dating Tupac Shakur at the time, and he had got me all riled up about life in general. So, when I went on the show I was feeling very gangsta.”

More: Patti LuPone savages her fellow ‘Evita’ star Madonna