Nelly’s lawyer has come out to clear up some confusion about his famous client’s recent legal troubles. Scott Rosenblum talked to TMZ to dispel rumors that Nelly had been charged with illegal substance possession.
He went on to make some serious claims about the officers who took Nelly to jail. The drama all started earlier this month when Nelly found himself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
On August 7, Nelly was arrested just outside St. Louis around 5 am. According to The Shade Room, the rapper was taken into custody and charged with possession of illegal substances.
He also faced charges related to having no insurance. The police statement mentioned that Nelly was also arrested for Failure to Appear on an old traffic charge.
The rapper’s attorney came to his client’s defense shortly after the scandal hit headlines. He denied that Nelly was charged with substance possession, stating instead that the rapper was arrested for lacking proof of insurance.
He went on to attack the officers for allegedly treating Nelly unfairly. Scott claimed that Nelly had been targeted by “an overzealous, out-of-line officer.”
Nelly Faced a Wave of Backlash
To some, it seemed like Nelly’s legal team wanted to downplay the seriousness of his arrest. However, many were still skeptical and believed that illegal substances were involved, and the reason why is wild.
The Sun reported that Nelly appeared glassy-eyed and slightly smiling in his police mug shot. This led some fans to be convinced that he might have been under the influence at the time of his arrest.
Fans quickly took to social media to criticize Nelly, expressing outrage over his behavior with a pregnant wife at home. A lot of their comments were brutal.
Many fans were upset that Nelly was acting so immaturely at nearly 50 years old. They even questioned whether Ashanti was right to take him back.
Some tweeted their anger, again adding that the couple getting back together might have been a mistake. This was shocking considering how happy everyone had been when they first got back together.
Nelly’s Arrest Has Overshadowed the Birth of His Son
When they were reunited on Verzuz in a moment that quickly went viral, Nelly and Ashanti looked delighted to be in each other’s company again. Most people were even more delighted when the couple shocked the world by revealing that they got married in secret at the end of 2023.
At the same time, they also revealed that they were expecting their first child together. Things had never looked brighter for them.
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But now, after Nelly’s arrest, so much doubt about their relationship has crept in. Some people have expressed sympathy for Ashanti, feeling that she must be scared and embarrassed by the situation Nelly has put her in.
The timing of Nelly’s arrest only intensified the public’s reaction. News has only emerged very recently that Ashanti actually had her baby recently.
The couple’s baby boy, Kareem Kenkaide Hayes, was born on July 18. This means that Nelly got himself arrested less than 3 weeks after welcoming his son into the world.
Nelly Has a History of Criminal Charges
While this will come as a huge disappointment to many Nelly fans, it’s far from his first brush with the law. His first major legal issue occurred in April 2015 when he was arrested on felony charges.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol had pulled over his tour bus for missing stickers. However, their search of the vehicle uncovered a whole lot more.
Authorities found illegal substances and paraphernalia, as well as 100 small Ziploc bags on Nelly’s bus. They also discovered several weapons, including a gold-plated firearm.
Following this, Nelly and one of his associates were charged and taken to County Jail. The other four men on the bus were not charged. Nelly’s lawyer then released a statement claiming that Nelly was not connected to the crazy contraband found on the bus.
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The rapper himself also issued a statement which included some surprising remarks. He said that he took responsibility for his choices before turning on his fellow passengers on the bus that day.
He suggested that he needed to be more cautious about who he allowed on his property. This attempt to shift blame onto his associates did not help his reputation among hip-hop fans.
In December 2015, Nelly pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge of possession and was sentenced to one year of probation. While the outcome was better than the initial charges, it still caused damage to his public image.
Nelly’s 2017 Charges Devestated His Reputation
Nelly’s legal troubles continued with a much more serious accusation in 2017. College student Monique Greene accused Nelly of SA before a Florida Georgia Line concert.
The case horrified many, but more shocking twists were to come, as it seemed to go away as quickly as it came up. The case was dropped after just a week.
Monique was accused of failing to cooperate with the investigation, which her attorney claimed was due to her client having a lack of faith in the system Nelly’s legal team argued that Monique’s refusal to cooperate was because her claims were false.
Nelly agreed with this in his own statement, in which he described the accusations as “disingenuous.” He said that he was committed to cooperating with the investigation to uncover the truth.
Nelly also used his statement to criticize Monique’s lawyer, claiming that they were trying to ruin him. He accused the lawyer of involvement in other cases against him and of making derogatory remarks about the police.
According to Nelly’s statement, Monique’s lawyer had suggested that the officers were incompetent and had been intimidated into ignoring the case.
These comments from Nelly did not help his reputation at the time. His attempts to handle the situation by attacking Monique’s lawyer only made matters worse in the eyes of the public.
Ashanti Has Not Addressed the Arrest
Now, with a new arrest and a baby, Nelly faces backlash once again. The recent scandal has cast a shadow over the happy news of his son’s birth. It’s definitely the last thing Ashanti needed so soon after having her baby.
While almost everyone is mad at Nelly, his wife has received sympathy and some criticism for getting back together with Nelly. As soon as the news of Nelly’s arrest was made public, fans wanted to know Ashanti’s reaction.
What she did turned out to be pretty interesting. The singer shared a post the very same day that Nelly was arrested which got fans talking.
She was celebrating a special night with her mom. She even shared a series of pictures on Instagram from it.
This was several weeks after her mom’s birthday, so fans were curious about the timing. Was Ashanti trying to create some distance between her family and the news of Nelly’s arrest? If this was the case, she can’t really be blamed for wanting to keep away from all the drama.
Many have voiced the opinion that Ashanti shouldn’t be surprised to find herself caught up in scandal, now that she’s married to Nelly. With so much troubling history both legally and within their relationship, many believe this was going to happen eventually.
But hopefully, Nelly can overcome his problems for the sake of his growing family.
