Jerry Foxhoven used to be the director of Iowa's Department of Human Services.

On June 16, the 66-year-old sent out a mass email to the agency's 4300 employees celebrating his appreciation of Pac and asking them to mark Pac's birthday by playing his songs.

The next day he was fired.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Iowa Department of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven routinely sent messages to employees lauding Shakur’s music and lyrics even after at least one complained to lawmakers. Then last month, he sent another such email to all 4,300 agency employees. He was abruptly ousted from his job the next work day.

Foxhoven, 66, told employees that he had been a huge fan of the hip-hop artist for years. He hosted weekly “Tupac Fridays” to play his music in the office. He traded lyrics with employees and he marked his own 65th birthday with Shakur-themed cookies, including ones decorated with the words “Thug life.”

The agency found that over the last two years there were 350 emails with the words "2Pac or Tupac" sent to and from Foxhoven's work account.

At least one person complained about Foxhoven's Pac obsession, although the AP found several workers who praised it.

A spokesman for Iowa governor Kim Reynolds pushed back when asked if Foxhoven was ousted specifically because of Pac.

“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,” said spokesman Pat Garrett.

The timing, though, is pretty suspicious.