Lil Baby thanked fans for their concern on Friday (July 9) after it was reported that he was taken into police custody in Paris. As reported by REVOLT, the Atlanta rapper was in France on Thursday (July 8) along with James Harden, Kanye West and other celebrities for Paris Fashion Week.
However, the Associated Press reports, Lil Baby and Harden were stopped by two plainclothes Paris police officers after the festivities for what cops claimed was a “strong smell of cannabis” coming from their car. Police say Lil Baby initially refused to let them search the car and two uniformed officers arrived as backup.
AP writes that the American stars were confused by what was going on, probably due to the language barrier, but later allowed them access to the vehicle. Police reportedly seized 32 grams of marijuana from the car.
Lil Baby and his bodyguard were taken into custody on suspicion of transporting drugs, but were released Friday morning and fined for the cannabis possession, according to the prosecutor’s office. Harden was frisked by police, as seen in bystander videos, but not detained.
On Instagram, the rapper said he was “good” and on his way back to the U.S. ahead of his Indianapolis concert tomorrow (July 10).
“Thank You To Everyone Who Checced On Me!!” he wrote. “I’m Good I’m Otw To The States To Rock My Show At The Pavilion At Pan Am In Indianapolis!! Let’s Gooooooo.” On Twitter, he added, “I’m good.”
A witness described the arrest as “unbelievable” to AP.
“I turned my head and it was unbelievable. I saw Lil Baby and James Harden… they are standing and are being frisked,” they said.
Online, the arrest sparked conversation about racial profiling in France. AP spoke to a French lawyer about the incident, who said white people in France are statistically less likely to be stopped or fined for similar drug offenses.
“You see that you can be a millionaire or a superstar and you always have this stigma,” attorney Slim Ben Achour told the outlet. “Black Americans have their own problems and some think that Europe is better… [but] there are common problems.”
The Parisian police force denied the accusations and claimed on Twitter that Lil Baby and Harden committed an “infraction.” Both of the arresting officers were white.
See Lil Baby’s posts and a video from the arrest below.