Rapper Lil Nas X is now facing a charge of battery on a peace officer after he was caught roaming the street in his underwear and cowboy boots. The artiste was taken into custody on the heels of being transported to the hospital for a possible overdose early Thursday morning.
According to TMZ, Nas is being held without bail at a police lockup in Van Nuys, located on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The entertainer was arrested for the misdemeanour offence after he reportedly tussled with officers, who responded to a report of a partially naked man walking in the street in Los Angeles.
A viral video shows him singing, dancing, and speaking about a party. TMZ, citing a police source, reported that Nas later removed his underwear, making him stark naked on the street. That was when he reportedly charged at a cop. When officers managed to restrain him, he was taken to the hospital for allegedly suffering a drug overdose.
Some fans speculated that it might be a publicity stunt to promote upcoming music, given the rapper’s reputation for attention-grabbing antics, but TMZ has confirmed that the incident is real.
According to the news outlet, Lil Nas X’s strange behaviour began long before he was arrested that morning. New CCTV footage from the Short Stories Hotel, released by the media, revealed that he was roaming Hollywood for nearly 15 hours.
In the video, Nas is seen at the hotel around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. While he was captured entering the hotel and walking around aimlessly inside, a source at the hotel told the media that he was not a registered guest. Entering the hotel’s courtyard area, Lil Nas X was fully dressed, but he did not remain so for long.
At one point, he can be seen fanning himself, and then he wandered into the lobby, where he got some water and sat on a nearby bench. He was there drinking for some time before he undid his shirt and wandered back onto the street without it.
Several hours later, he was caught about 7 miles away from the hotel on Ventura Boulevard, where he was parading naked in the street. It is unclear what he did after he left the hotel leading up to his late-night escapade.
