Critics of Tekashi69 has accused the controversial rapper of staging his own kidnapping to bolster sales on his newest album.
Earlier today it was reported by TMZ that Tekashi, real name Daniel Hernandez, returned to his Brooklyn home at 4am on Sunday morning where it’s claimed he was confronted by a car blocking his drive.
Three gunmen allegedly got out of the car, grabbed the SoundCloud rapper, and knocked him out by pistol-whipping him.
Sources close to Hernandez allege the gunmen dragged him into the car and drove off. When he came to the kidnappers demanded he give them money and jewellery or else they would ‘kill him’.
The kidnappers then allegedly drove back to Hernandez’ house where they stole $750,000 in jewellery and between $15,000-$20,000 in cash.
Hernandez eventually managed to escape his captors by leaping out of the car and begging a stranger to help him. He was taken to hospital where he remains while doctors perform various tests including a CT scan.
Not everyone’s convinced that the kidnapping was real though, going so far as to allege that the rapper faked his kidnapping to bolster sales of his newest record.
Music Producer and founder of @BLKMRKTMovement, MOZART, wrote on Twitter:
Does anybody really believe this Tekashi69 story about him being kidnapped and robbed?
He’s doing all this to promote his mediocre ‘FEFE’ record. I can’t believe these people are falling for this.
Other’s agreed with MOZART’s suspicions on Twitter with one commenter writing: ‘Fake news he doing this [because] he got a song coming out and victims get sympathy, f*ck him and his music’.
Another wrote:
I think everyone is being trolled right now. Tmz had way too many details too soon. In the pic he looks totally fine n clean…no blood or stitches just what seems to be bruises. Maybe they cleaned him up or maybe this guy is smart n this is a publicity stunt
A selection of those suspicious about Tekashi69’s kidnapping:
The vast majority, however, were more sympathetic to Hernandez’ supposed plight although a number of people pointed out that Tekashi69’s behaviour had riled the New York rap scene.
One fan wrote that while he hoped that Tekashi69 would recover soon his internet trolling had come back to bite him, suggesting that his controversial behaviour was to blame for the robbery.
Othe ‘fans’ were more gleeful, laughing that he’d been robbed and asking why he didn’t act like a real gangster.
Hernandez has been a controversial figure even before he rose to fame last year. In 2015 he pled guilty to one felony count of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance.
He was charged with three counts of the offence after an incident where he had sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl after which he distributed videos of the incident online.
Hernandez claimed to have ‘no sexual contact’ with the girl and denied knowing she was a minor at the time of the incident, XXL Mag reports.
Earlier this month Tekashi was arrested for allegedly choking a 16-year-old boy in Houston, Texas, and was held in Rikers Island prison until he posted $150,000 bail, Vibe reports.
Hauntingly, just two days before XXXTentacion was shot and killed in South Florida the 20-year-old rapper contacted Tekashi to warn him to ‘be safe’ and ‘never let down your guard’.
TMZ have also updated their original story to include an update from Police. The account provided by law enforcement contradicts reports from Takeshi’s own team.
According to the celebrity gossip site Takeshi’s version of events given to police raises doubts over the origin of his injuries:
He was a passenger in a Chevy Tahoe at a Brooklyn intersection, sitting at a red light, when a car bumped them from behind. He told cops 2 men with guns jumped out, stole the driver’s iPhone and then grabbed Tekashi and dragged him into their car and sped away.
Law enforcement says they drove to Tekashi’s home and he called someone inside — presumably his baby mama — and asked her to come down with his jewelry … which she did. Our sources say Tekashi then told cops he managed to escape and reported the incident to cops, but then became uncooperative. He checked himself into the hospital. Our sources say they have no idea how Tekashi was injured.
Well, normally the truth will out.
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More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.