Rapper Nelly was arrested yesterday morning for possession of four ecstasy pills and for not having car insurance.
A spokesperson for the Missouri State Highway Patrol said they arrested the Grammy award-winning artist inside Missouri’s Hollywood Casino in at 4:45 a.m. after an identification-verification check which was mandated “when a player won over a certain amount.”
Nelly’s attorney disputes their reason for the ID check, as he says the rapper frequents the casino and has won larger amounts in the past without a check being performed.
The 49-year-old rapper was arrested for a 2018 infraction, which turned into a warrant issued in December 2023.
“Under similar circumstances, assuming there was an old warrant without any notice to the individual for no proof of insurance, any other citizen would have been told to address it and allowed to go on their way,” Scott Rosenblum, Nelly’s attorney, said in a statement. “It is also important to note that Mr. Haynes, as part of the requirements to travel internationally, is regularly asked to supply proof of no warrants. Including FBI checks. There were none. I am 100% confident this case will go nowhere. And we will be asking for an inquiry into this officer’s conduct.”
