Rapper Travis Scott was arrested early Thursday morning in Miami after an altercation at the Miami Beach Marina.
Scott, 33, whose legal name is Jacques Bermon Webster, was charged with trespassing after a warning and disorderly intoxication.
According to the arrest affidavit provided to NPR by the Miami Beach Police Department, Scott was taken into custody at about 1:44 a.m. Thursday.
Police said they received a phone call complaining about people fighting on a yacht. When they arrived, Scott was “standing by the dock yelling at the vessel occupants.”
Scott complied with a police request to sit down, according to the affidavit, but then “began continuously standing back up disregarding officers commands.”
The officers stated that they “could sense a strong smell of alcohol coming from the defendant's breath.”
A police officer asked Scott to leave the dock after confirming the person who complained did not want to press charges and that Scott did not have property on the boat. Scott retreated from the scene, walking backward and yelling obscenities to the people on the yacht, police said.
Scott then entered his car and, according to police, said to the officers that “if he gets in the vehicle he’s gonna catch a fade” — a slang term implying physical repercussions.
The car left the property, but the affidavit states that Scott returned about five minutes later. A police officer saw Scott walking back toward the yacht while allegedly bypassing police and disregarded commands.
As Scott was speaking to an officer, he “began yelling once again” and became “erratic,” with his behavior causing a public disturbance. It was then that Scott was taken into custody.
Scott admitted that he had been drinking, adding “It’s Miami,” alluding to the city’s reputation for bacchanalian festivities.
Scott's legal representative, Bradford Cohen, said that at no point did the interaction turn physical during the rapper's "brief" detainment.
“Mr. Scott was briefly detained due to a misunderstanding. There was absolutely no physical altercation involved, and we thank the authorities for working with us towards a swift and amicable resolution,” Cohen said.
In a post on X shortly after he was released on bond, Scott stated simply, “Lol.” A post on his official Instagram account has photoshopped headphones and sunglasses onto his booking photo.
According to the affidavit, 10 officers were using body-worn cameras during the incident.
This is not Scott’s first brush with law enforcement. During several of Scott’s concerts, the musician stirred controversy by riling up his crowds resulting in rowdy fan behavior.
Those incidents reached new heights in 2021, when at least 10 people, aged 9 to 27, were killed and hundreds more injured during his Astroworld Festival. Scott was investigated for criminal conduct in that incident, but a grand jury declined to indict the Houston native.
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