Dr. Boyce Watkins, a social commentator, got people talking with controversial remarks targeting Epic Records CEO L.A Reid. Watkins said Reid was worse than the Klu Klux Klan for exploiting and abandoning Bobby Shmurda amid his legal woes.
Watkins posted an image onto Facebook of Bobby in cuffs during a court hearing, writing, “This image hits me hard: Three black men, three separate roles, all contemplating the tragic loss of a young black man’s potential. The only other black man to add to this picture is LA Reid, who paid Bobby Shmurda to rap about gun violence, but has now abandoned him after the gun culture caught up with him. LA Reid should be ashamed of himself. Men like him exterminate more black men than the KKK. #BobbyShmurda
Watkins is not alone in his argument of Epic exploiting Bobby.
Bobby’s entertainment lawyer Matthew Middleton blasted Epic, alleging the label exploited the East Flatbush, Brooklyn native.
“These companies for years have capitalized and made millions and millions of dollars from kids in the inner city portraying their plight to the rest of the world,” Mr. Middleton told the NY Times. “To take advantage of that and exploit it from a business standpoint and then turn your back is disingenuous, to say the least.”
Shmurda sits in Manhattan Detention Complex aka “The Tombs” on charges of conspiracy, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and criminally using drug paraphernalia. Bobby, whose bail has been set at $2 million, pled not guilty to those charges Thursday, Jan. 30.
Epic Records have had no role in helping to secure bail for Bobby.
“They’re not standing by me that much,” Shmurda told Billboard. “Every time I call them, there’s excuse about Sony. I haven’t gotten a visit from one of them yet. At first I thought it was love. Now everything is all business.”
The “Hot N*gga” rapper now wants out of his Epic Records contract.
“I’m going to try my best to go back on the deal,” Bobby said, according to the New York Times. “If not, I’ll give them their music and bounce.”
Bobby currently has to sit in jail until his upcoming April 22 court hearing.
An Epic representative reportedly told Billboard the label stands behind Shmurda and he’s still on the roster.
50 Cent is even upset with the folks over at Epic Records for not supporting Bobby Shmurda amid his mounting legal woes.
Fif made his thoughts on the matter known on DJ Whoo Kid’s SiriusXM Shade 45 “Whoolywood Shuffle” radio show.
“I’d like to see that check from Epic,” he said. “…Why didn’t they bail Bobby out? He never got bailed out. Sha Money and them ain’t bail him out. How yo name gon be money and you don’t show up with the money when them n-ggas go to jail?”
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Shmurda and his management have attempted to put together a bail package to secure his release. But plans to pay it ultimately fell through.
Bobby’s attorney Kenneth Montgomery opened up on the reasoning behind this in an interview with Complex Mag.
“It wasn’t really money. It was property,” he said. “You need collateral. You need property that has a lot of equity in it. The issue wasn’t with the property. It was an issue of how many people owned the property. You had some people who wanted to present the package and you had someone who was an owner that didn’t. That’s why it didn’t work out.”
Montgomery has no doubt in his mind Bobby will be free if a workable bail application was submitted.
“I never had a client present a bail package that was denied,” he said.
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