Killer Mike Reflects on His Grammy Night Arrest: ‘All of My Heroes Have Been in Handcuffs’
Killer Mike’s Grammy night on Feb. 4 was bittersweet after being placed in handcuffs by LAPD following an alleged altercation with a security guard earlier in the day. Mike spoke to the cast of The View on Monday (Feb. 12), following his Grammy trifecta, where he won best rap album and song, and best rap performance.
“All of my heroes have been in handcuffs – Malcolm, Martin, Mandela, Medgar,” he said reflectively. “I walked out with the same dignity and respect that I walked in with, and I would implore people to just take that from it.”
He also noted that the backstage area was jam-packed, and caused security to behave more rashly than usual. “Backstage was overcrowded, the winners were exuberant, and I think security got a little overzealous,” he relayed to the panel.
Detained for several hours following his arrest, Mike received a misdemeanor charge and was released. Then, he met his wife, Shana, and quipped about their encounter, saying: “I walked out to my wife in the rain,” he said. “It was like a romance movie. It was dope.”
After his arrest, the rapper released a statement about the incident. “As you can imagine, there was a lot going and there was some confusion around which door my team and I should enter,” he said in part. “We experienced an overzealous security guard, but my team and I have the utmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.”
Mike’s whirlwind of a night didn’t end there. He later discovered that his 21-year-old son had finally found a kidney donor after waiting for three years. In an interview with GQ, he spoke about his initial reaction to hearing the news.
“The very next morning, I got a call that my child, after being on the list for three years, finally got his kidney. And I can just truly tell you that God is real. And the same way Christ gave us an example of being by himself, of being tempted by Satan, I understand that a lot better now because I could have succumbed to anger or evil and talked s–t. But I’m just grateful.”
Watch Killer Mike’s interview with The View below.
Carl Lamarre
Billboard
