Pretty Ricky’s Spectacular Smith arrested for punching Disney World cast member
Pretty Ricky's Spectacular Smith insisted on social media that the reports around his arrest were 'one sided'
Spectacular Smith of the R&B/Hip group Pretty Ricky is being accused of assaulting a Disney World cast member but he says there are two sides to every story.
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The singer was at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Sunday when he allegedly made a sneezing gesture and then said “coronavirus.” A cast member approached him about his comments and an altercation between the two began. Smith is now facing a battery charge, per WESH News.
The cast member allegedly approached Smith and said his actions weren’t funny and Smith responded with, “I thought it was.” The employee then tried to block him and told him to leave the line he was standing in. Reports say Smith ultimately struck the employee twice. The employee was taken to the hospital and Smith was arrested on Monday but has posted a $500 bond.
But the “Your Body” singer turned entrepreneur says that is not exactly how it went down. He hopped on Instagram to pen a message.
“The more success you have as a Black man the bigger target you are,” he wrote to his stories. “The media will put out a one sided story even without facts because they enjoy demonizing our culture and bringing us down. It’s sad.”
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Despite his legal trouble, Smith has made a name for himself in the world of social media. He started the media company, Adwizar, Inc in 2014. Back in 2016, he described the company to Forbes as “a platform for influencers, entertainers, or athletes to maximize off their following. We have a minimum of a million followers to even qualify,” he told the publication.
“Once we have them on the platform, we will have engaging content for the audience. Whatever it is, it’ll be tailored around their demographic. So if it’s an athlete, then we’ll do sports content. Or we would create content that’s custom around the actual brand itself, and build a massive audience with it. We figured out a formula to grow at least 20,000 new fans a week and increase the reach at least five million a week for each individual person on the platform.”
TheGrio reached out for comment and didn’t hear back at the time of publication.
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