American rapper Killer Mike was arrested and dramatically led away in handcuffs less than an hour before the 2024 Grammys were set to kick off — right after he swept all his nominations.
The Grammys are starting off with a bang after dramatic scenes involving police, security and Killer Mike’s management marching the rapper backstage, with his hands restrained behind his back.
Journalist Chris Gardner first reported the news of Killer Mike’s arrest on X, formerly known as Twitter, and shared footage of the rapper being taken away by police officers from the Crypto.com arena in LA, California.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Killer Mike was detained on a misdemeanor charge (no specific charges have been revealed yet) and Los Angeles Police are involved.
An unnamed official reportedly said that the rapper could potentially be released later tonight. At the time of writing, he is still being held backstage.
Gardner questioned whether this meant that the rapper was being detained and booked at the venue, instead of being taken to a cop shop, but so far hasn’t found answers.
However, the same unnamed official reportedly said the arrest had “nothing to do with anything that happened today here inside the arena” and that the charge is “a big nothing”.
If true, you have to wonder why the charge warranted such public scenes then — it’s certainly an unfortunate time to arrest the rapper given the circumstances.
Just hours earlier, Killer Mike won awards for best rap song and best rap performance for “Scientists & Engineers”, and best rap album for Michael. These grammys are the first he’s won since his only Grammy from 2003.
He is tied for the second-most wins so far for this year, alongside Boygenius. Phoebe Bridgers is so far leading with four trophies.
You can watch the Grammys here.
