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Mystikal was denied bond following his recent arrest on charges of rape and battery, among others. The rapper was accused of attacking a woman at his home on Saturday, taking her car keys and holding her against her will.

The Advocate reports Mystikal’s defense attorney, Roy Maughan Jr., maintained his client’s innocence and asked for $250,000 bail. State District Judge Steven Tureau determined the rapper should remain in jail until trial, citing the evidence in the current case, the victim’s fears and Mystikal’s criminal history.

Mystikal, born Michael Lawrence Tyler, is a lifetime registered sex offender. He previously served six years in jail in connection to a 2003 incident for which he pleaded guilty to sexual battery and extortion. He later spent 18 months in jail while facing rape and kidnapping charges, which were dropped in December 2020 due to a lack of evidence.

Mystikal’s also been arrested numerous times in relation to marijuana possession, misdemeanor domestic violence and first-degree rape but walked away with no conviction. 

According to testimony from Sheriff’s Detective Garrett Keith, the accuser, who was in a long-term relationship with Mystikal, went to his home to discuss financial matters when things went downhill. He allegedly accused her of stealing his money before abusing her, using prayers and rubbing alcohol to remove her “bad spirits” and raping her.

Prosecutors argued that Mystikal is likely to repeat a similar crime given his criminal record, but Maughan argued that his celebrity status would make it difficult to evade authorities. He also noted his client’s perfect attendance in court and that he hasn’t been convicted for any other crimes outside the 2003 case. Maughan objected to the judge’s decision, but an appeal is unlikely, The Advocate reports.

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(NEW YORK) — The prosecutor in the case of Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for over five months, asked that the WNBA star serve 9 1/2 years in prison as her trial comes to an end.

Griner, a 31-year-old Houston native who plays professional basketball for the Phoenix Mercury, was detained on Feb. 17 at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki as she returned to Russia to play during the WNBA’s off-season after she was accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country.

Griner, who appeared in court Thursday for the final hearing in her trial, is facing up to 10 years in prison although 9 1/2 years is the maximum sentence with time served. If convicted, Griner has a right to appeal.

Griner shared an emotional statement in court ahead of an expected verdict on Thursday morning.

She apologized to her loved ones for the hurt that her detention has caused and said that her parents instilled hard work in her and this value is what brought her to Russia.

Griner’s trip to Russia to play in the offseason has underscored the issue of pay inequality in professional basketball.

Many WNBA players have traveled around the world to play in the offseason because they don’t make enough money during the season — an issue that is not as prevalent for NBA players. The top WNBA salary is $228,000 per season, whereas star NBA players make over $20 million a year.

The Phoenix Mercury star held up a photo of her Russian teammates on Thursday and said that she made “an honest mistake” by packing the vape cartridges in her bag.

The prosecutor argued that Griner’s guilt has been proven and also asked that Griner pay a $16,500 fine, which is about 1M Russian roubles. ABC News was present in the courtroom.

Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in court last month, saying that the vape cartridges containing hashish oil were in her luggage mistakenly and that she had no “intention” of breaking Russian law.

Her legal team told ABC News in a statement last month that her “guilty” plea was recommended by her Russian attorneys.

“Brittney sets an example of being brave. She decided to take full responsibility for her actions as she knows that she is a role model for many people,” the lawyers said in the statement. “Considering the nature of her case, the insignificant amount of the substance and BG’s personality and history of positive contributions to global and Russian sport, the defense hopes that the plea will be considered by the court as a mitigating factor and there will be no severe sentence.”

Griner testified last week that she did not mean to leave the cartridges in her bag, but that she was in a hurry and was stressed after recovering from COVID-19 that month. The WNBA star said she was aware that the U.S. had warned Americans about traveling to Russia, but she didn’t want to let her team down in the playoffs.

She also testified that she has permission to use medical cannabis and used a certificate to buy it in the U.S. Earlier this month, one of Griner’s attorneys presented a letter from an American doctor in court, giving her permission to use cannabis to reduce chronic pain.

The American basketball star said she was pulled aside after inspectors at the airport found the vape cartridges in her luggage and that when she was detained, she was not offered an explanation of her rights or access to an attorney. Griner said that while there was a translator present, she was not offered a complete translation and even tried to use her phone to translate.

Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine began one week after Griner was detained, and some officials have expressed concern that Americans jailed in Russia could be used as leverage in the ongoing war.

The U.S. Department of State has classified both former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Griner as “wrongfully detained.”

Last week, in a sharp reversal, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he will hold a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “in the coming days” to discuss securing the freedom of Griner and Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since late 2018.

“[They] have been wrongly detained and must be allowed to come home,” Blinken told reporters in Washington, D.C, on July 27. “We put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate their release. Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal, and I’ll use the conversation to follow up personally and I hope [to] move us toward a resolution.”

Two days later, Blinken told reporters that he had a “frank and direct conversation” with Lavrov about a U.S. proposal to exchange convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout in return for Griner and Whelan’s freedom.

“I pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we put forth on the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner,” Blinken said. “I’m not going to characterize his responses and I can’t give you an assessment of whether I think things are more or less likely, but it was important that [he] hear directly from me on that.”

During a press conference in Moscow on July 28, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova confirmed that “the issue of mutual exchange of Russian and American citizens, staying in places of detention on the territory of the two countries, was discussed at one time by the presidents of Russia and the United States,” but “a concrete result has not yet been achieved.”

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Kanye West is not happy with Adidas. 

Taking to Instagram, the rapper expressed his frustration with the brand’s creation of Yeezy Day, which took place on August 2. The day marks the release of new and restocked Yeezy styles. However, Ye claimed the whole idea was done without his consent.  

“Adidas made up the Yeezy day idea without my approval then went and brought back older styles without my approval,” he wrote in a DM to the Complex Instagram account.

The “Eazy” rapper went on to accuse the sneaker giant of stealing his “styles and material approaches,” as well as hiring a general manager, all without his approval. He also claimed they “completely slowed down production” on his Yeezy Gap partnership with Balenciaga, which he says prevented him from being able to release footwear as part of the collaboration, even though his claims his contract states he can design “casual shoes” outside of the Adidas umbrella. 

Ye ended the lengthy message by stating the Yeezy makes up 68% of Adidas’ sales, and added, “God step in.”

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(NEW YORK) — The NFL on Wednesday announced it has appealed the six-game suspension Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was served earlier this week for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

In a statement, the league said the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) affords either party the “right to appeal the discipline imposed by the Disciplinary Officer. Such an appeal must be filed within three days and would be heard by the Commissioner or his designee.”

“The NFL notified the NFLPA that it will appeal Judge [Sue L. ] Robinson’s disciplinary decision and filed its brief this afternoon,” the league said in its statement Wednesday. “Commissioner Roger Goodell will determine who will hear the appeal.”

Judge Sue L. Robinson, the disciplinary officer appointed by the NFL and NFLPA, issued Watson’s six-game suspension on Monday.

In her 16-page report, Robinson wrote that the NFL “carried its burden to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Watson engaged in sexual assault (as defined by the NFL) against the four therapists identified in the Report. Mr. Watson violated the Policy in this regard.”

She also wrote that Watson violated the league’s personal conduct policy by engaging in “conduct that poses a genuine danger to the safety and well-being of another person” and “conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity of the NFL.”

Multiple women have filed lawsuits against Watson, accusing the 26-year-old quarterback of sexual assault and other inappropriate conduct.

ESPN reports, citing a source, that the NFL is seeking to suspend Watson for at least a year, along with hitting him with a fine and requiring that he undergo treatment.

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Throughout the span of his rap career, Wiz Khalifa has worked with a slew of artists, including some who have unfortunately passed away. In a new interview with Billboard, he looks back on his collaborations with two late rappers: Nipsey Hussle and Young Dolph.

Wiz teamed up with Hussle in 2011 for “Hopes & Dreams” off his Rolling Papers project. According to the “Black and Yellow” rapper, they’d met at the 2010 XXL Freshman cover shoot in New York and hit it off. While he was recording his album in his LA studio, he wanted to collab with his “homies,” so he reached out to Nip to get him on a song.

“This is my first major label album, and I love Nip so much that he had only done mixtape stuff — but if this was gonna be my first major-label shot, I want to bring my homies with me, and the people I respect, love, and think are tight as f***. It didn’t matter if they were on blogs at the time,” he said. Unfortunately, the song “ended up not being cleared because of business deals at the time.”

Wiz would later go on to work with Young Dolph on the 2017 track “On the River,” featured on Dolph’s album Gelato. He remembers Dolph as a “cool dude” who “didn’t like to be around a bunch of people.”

“He was funny, loved to crack jokes, and his music was really good …,” Wiz said of Dolph. “He was one of them dudes that was always a pleasure to be in contact with … I loved that about him.”

Nipsey was fatally shot outside his Marathon Clothing Store in March 2019; Dolph was shot and killed last November while at a cookie shop in his hometown of Memphis.

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