Rapper Lil Baby detained in Paris for allegedly carrying drugs
Hip-hop star Lil Baby has been traveling with NBA player James Harden, who was also frisked by Paris police, but not arrested.
While in Paris for Fashion Week, rapper Lil Baby was detained by police after being stopped and frisked late Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors in the city’s 8th precinct have opened an investigation.
He was released early Friday after paying a fine for narcotics use.
Lil Baby, whose legal name is Dominique Armani Jones, was traveling with NBA player James Harden, who was also frisked by Paris police, but not detained. According to The Sun, the pair were in a group that was stopped after reportedly a vehicle smelling of marijuana. There is reportedly a video of Lil Baby sitting in the back of a police van handcuffed.
According to TMZ, there is a photo of an officer holding a vaping device, but it is unclear who it belongs to or what it contains.
The site is reporting that three people, including Lil Baby, were arrested and that allegedly 20 grams of weed were discovered.
According to Bleacher Report, ESPN confirmed that Brooklyn Nets’ Harden “was not arrested and was never taken into custody” after being stopped by police in Paris. There is a bystander video of Harden saying, “It’s okay. I don’t understand,” as they begin to frisk him.
Before the arrest, the Grammy Award-nominated rapper and NBA star were spotted all over Paris attending fashion shows during Fashion Week.
Cannabis is illegal in France, but according to webehigh.org, it is “quite tolerated,” as long as “you avoid being too obvious.” The site notes that marijuana possession and any related action — buying, selling, growing or smoking — is considered a criminal offense subject to a penalty of two months and up to one year in jail plus a fine.
Paris prosecutors have not confirmed if it was only marijuana or other illicit drugs found in the vehicle.
Just hours before Lil Baby’s arrest in Paris was reported, YouTube figure and podcast host Logan Paul dissed him on his show, saying, “Lil Baby, he’ll pop up on my Spotify… I’m scrolling through, and I f***ing can’t get away from Lil Baby songs.”
“I’m all for the new artists, but this one in particular I have no idea what he’s saying,” Paul contended. “I have none. And it all sounds the same, his tone is the same, it’s all the same. I give him a year.”
Lil Baby responded on Twitter, tweeting, “Logan Who?” and “More like give em a year to have 100ms.”
He also appeared to address his arrest, writing simply, “I’m good,” with a hands-in-prayer emoji.
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