Rapper Killer Mike, who was detained by the LAPD at the Grammys last week and escorted away from the Crypto.com arena in handcuffs, discussed the incident on The View on Monday morning. Killer Mike, whose real name is Michael Render, had just been onstage at the nearby Peacock Theater—he earned three awards that evening, for Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album—before being arrested in connection to what an LAPD spokesperson described to The Daily Beast as a “physical altercation.”
“Obviously, it’s an ongoing legal matter, so I don’t know how much you can say about it, but can you just give us some sort of description?” co-host Sunny Hostin prompted Render.
“I think the backstage was overcrowded, I think the winners were exuberant and I think that security got a little overzealous,” Render, who won his accolades for his 2023 album Michael, replied. “You know, it’s water under the bridge for me.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“I like to say, all of my heroes have been in handcuffs,” he continued. “Malcolm, Martin, Mandela, Medgar. 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. Don’t dwell on the past.”
“I spent three hours kinda by myself, you know, you’re waiting, and the police said, ‘Oh my god, we’ve never gotten this many phone calls, people are about to go protest, we’re going to have to move you,’” Mike said. “They’re panicked, and I’m just kinda sitting there, and I begin to evoke thanks. I thanked God for bringing me where I was, and I thanked God for putting me in a space, believe it or not, by myself.”
“I got out that night,” he said. “I walked out to my wife in the rain. It was like a romance movie, it was dope. And then we went to party!”
Last week, Mike told TMZ that the incident took place due to a run-in between his entourage and an “overzealous” security guard.
“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. “We experienced an over-zealous security guard but my team and I have the upmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.”
Law enforcement sources told TMZ last week that Mike was under suspicion of having knocked down a guard outside the arena. Video of the aftermath of the alleged altercation shows the rapper exchanging what looks like tense words with a cluster of people in uniform.
