Confined for 23 hours a day with only 15 to 20 minutes time out of the cell, Harlem-born hip-hop star and fashion icon A$AP Rocky (born Rakim Mayers), and two companions, have been jailed in Sweden for over two weeks following an altercation in the city of Stockholm. The U.S. Congressman serving Rocky's home district in New York City, Adriano Espaillat, is working to change that.
"Three young men, doing the right thing, successful, we're very proud of them, and they got bamboozled and thrown in jail," Espaillat told Cheddar Thursday. "That's why I'm fighting to get them out of jail."
On the final leg of their European tour, Rakim Mayers, and two other performers, Bladimir Corniel and David Rispers, were arrested and detained "for a suspected attack on an unknown person" on July 3, according to the Associated Press. In a video posted on the rapper's Instagram, two men are shown following the crew for multiple blocks, with one ultimately striking A$AP's security guard with headphones. Rocky can be heard repeatedly telling the two males to back away.
Swedish prisons are reportedly known for being a model for criminal justice, but Rep. Espaillat suggests his constituent's continued detainment and treatment might have more to do with the color of his skin.
"Race is always a factor, and continues to matter across the planet. In this case, it may have had something to do with it," the Congressman said.
"Sweden's gonna come out of this with a black-eye. I think that they really have not measured the kind of harm that it's done to their image," he added. "As a country that has always promoted itself for niceties, and having the haven of democracy there."
On Friday, a State Department official will travel to Stockholm to potentially rectify the situation. Kim Kardashian West announced over Twitter that President Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Jared Kusher, and other members of the White House are working to free the three imprisoned in Stockholm.
At a press conference on Wednesday with the Congressional Black Caucus, Espaillat called on the State Department to do more, going as far as to call out Pompeo to "speak up."
Espaillat's message to a jailed A$AP: "We're fighting for you, stay strong, we'll get you out of there soon enough."
The "Long Live A$AP" rapper is known for his lyrics discussing a range of cultural topics from criminal justice, drugs, and race.
This June marks the 25th anniversary of the infamous 1997 "Bite Fight”, the iconic boxing rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield when Tyson shockingly bit a piece of his opponent’s ear off. As a macabre tribute to the incident, the boxing legend’s line of cannabis products, Tyson 2.0, has released “Mike Bites", edibles in the shape of an ear complete with a bite mark. Tyson, the chief brand officer and co-founder, along with CEO Adam Wilks joined Cheddar News to talk about the unique gummies. "I just think this is just me owning what I did. I'm owning my responsibility. I've done that. That was pretty bad at the time, but I turned it over to make it pretty good," the former heavyweight champion said.
Donna Letier, CEO and Co-Founder of Gardenuity, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how gardening can improve your wellbeing, and why businesses are using this as a way to keep employees happy.
U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Famer and former Olympian Nancy Kerrigan spoke to Cheddar News about joining Ice Dreams, a national skating tour that connects legends of the sport with its next generation. Kerrigan spoke of the lessons she learned from the sport and how grateful she is for the opportunity to give something back. “I mean skating has taught me some of the greatest things in in my life," she said. "You know, you fall down, things get hard, but you get back up and you keep on trying. And if you're performing and doing something you love, I think you would actually do even better.”
Cheddar's Michelle Castillo reports on the activations for the streaming wars between HBO Max, Prime Video, Disney+, and Paramount+ from South by Southwest 2022 — and returns with a souvenir.
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After two years of living in the pandemic, people are gearing up to travel for their summer vacations in 2022. Leigh Barnes, the chief customer officer for adventure tours company Intrepid Travel, joined Cheddar News to talk about the year’s top travel destinations and tips on how to prepare. Regarding COVID restrictions, Barnes discussed needing to do your own research to make sure you should be hitting a destination at all. "I think that the last thing is, making sure that where you're going is, the communities want you there. Because I think one of the things that we're seeing from possibly a Western lens is vaccine equity," he said. "We've got high vaccine rates across a lot of the Western nations. They may not have that same COVID normal that we're experiencing. So you've got to look for places that do want tourists to come in or ways that we can support vaccine equity."
If you have a minute, Protégé thinks it might be enough to get your talent noticed by stars and industry movers like DJ Khaled. Jackson Jhin, co-founder and CEO of the platform, talked to Cheddar about how the services might better democratize access to performing arts like music and acting. "You have 60 seconds to send a video to the best experts in each industry and send it to people who otherwise would have been inaccessible," he noted. For a wide-ranging fee, applicants can submit their work to garner feedback from folks like Jason Alexander or Scooter Braun — with a money-back guarantee, according to Jhin.
Jason Nichols, senior lecturer at the University of Maryland's African American Studies Department, joins Cheddar News to discuss the racial implications of Will Smith's slap at the Academy Awards.
