Nelly Arrested For Alleged Sexual Assault & His Lawyer Says Allegation Is "Completely Fabricated"
Nelly has been booked on charges of alleged sexual assault. The rapper, best known for his songs "Ride Wit Me" and "Hot In Herre," was accused of second-degree rape and escorted to jail early on Saturday, Oct. 7, TMZ reports. According to his lawyer, Nelly's rape allegations are "completely fabricated." Here's what we know about why Nelly was arrested.
Elite Daily reached out to Nelly's team for comment but did not hear back before time of publication.
At 3:48 a.m. on Oct. 7, the Auburn Police Department in Auburn, Washington received a call from a woman alleging that she had been sexually assaulted by the rapper. According to the police report, Nelly had performed at the White River Amphitheater just a few hours before as part of his tour with the country band, Florida Georgia Line.
Per the Auburn Police statement,
The alleged assault was reported to occur on the tour bus that was parked at the listed location. After Patrol Officers investigated the incident, at 4:37 AM Nelly was taken into custody and booked at the SCORE jail facility. Auburn Police are continuing to investigate this incident. The above details are all we have to release at this time.
Nelly reportedly met the woman in Seattle and brought her back to his bus, Q13Fox reports. The police found "probable cause" for his arrest, according to Q13Fox.
Nelly has since been "released pending investigation" from prison, his lawyer Scott Rosenblum, told Buzzfeed News. He added that, as far as he knows, the rapper's concert dates will go on as scheduled.
Rosenblum also vehemently denied the accusations, saying in a statement to TMZ,
Nelly is the victim of a completely fabricated allegation. Our initial investigation clearly establishes this allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness. I am confident, once this scurrilous accusation is thoroughly investigated, there will be no charges. Nelly is prepared to address and pursue all legal avenues to redress any damage caused by this clearly false allegation.
The arrest has prompted a heated conversation on Twitter over rape accusations, and the ongoing trend of allegations against high-profile men in the entertainment industry.
People also took to Twitter to share footage of Nelly from recent concerts, which appear to show the rapper standing very close to two girls while playing with their hair on stage.
Meanwhile, these rape allegations are not the first time that Nelly has had a brush with the law. The rapper was was arrested in 2015 after marijuana, meth and weapons were discovered on his tour bus.
At the time, Nelly's lawyer explained to US Weekly,
Nelly was one of several individuals that was on a tour bus that was stopped and searched while traveling through Tennessee. In fact, there had been 15-20 people that had access to the bus prior to the stop. Allegedly, a small quantity of contraband (MDMA aka Molly or Ecstasy) was discovered during the routine search. We are extremely confident that when the facts come out, Nelly will not be associated with the contraband that was allegedly discovered.
Nelly added his own thoughts into the mix, taking to Instagram to say that he needed to "take responsibility for [his] choices." He wrote,
Although I am unable to speak to the legal specifics and my attorney has put out a preliminary statement, I feel the need to take responsibility for my choices in needing to be more aware of all the people I associate with and allow onto my property while committing to making better choices moving forward.
We'll have to see what comes next for Nelly.
