Following rapper ASAP Rocky’s release from prison in Sweden, the White House was reportedly “left angry.” If you can recall, President Donald Trump publicly sparked a feud with LaVar Ball when the Big Baller Brand patriarch refused to thank Trump for helping his middle son LiAngelo get released from jail in China.
Now, the White House is reportedly upset that ASAP Rocky has not thanked them for playing a role in his release, either.
According to a report from Yahoo!, the White House wanted ASAP Rocky to issue a public thank you while that the administration believes could have helped “bolster Trump’s image among African-Americans.”
Those involved in part of the discussion surrounding Rocky’s release were reportedly Trump himself, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Trump-supporting Ohio pastor Darrell Scott, co-chairman of the Urban Revitalization Coalition Kareem Lanier, and a “fixer” named Hassan Muhammad.
“The White House didn’t ask for anything. There were no conditions attached, but my condition and Kareem’s condition was that all I’m asking for you guys to do is say thank you,” Scott told Yahoo! he said to Rocky’s manager John Ehmann before getting involved.
“All he had to do was do a two-minute call to say thank you. Rocky hasn’t even called us and said, ‘Hey, man, thank you guys. I appreciate it,’ in private. Just in private.”
From the report:
From this story: The White House wanted A$AP Rocky to publicly thank President Trump and the administration for his release, in a move they hoped would help them with black people, but the rapper reportedly ghosted them upon arrival back to the US. https://t.co/MPwjN9w3N5
— Steadman
(@AsteadWesley) August 23, 2019
(@AsteadWesley) Both Lanier and Scott were upset that Rocky never acknowledged the assistance he had gotten. Lanier attributed this to the potential blowback that an African-American celebrity like Rocky could face for embracing Trump.
“One of the problems that we have as a culture — and I’m talking about black Americans — is herd mentality,” Lanier said. “Right now it’s popular for those guys to bash President Trump.”
The two men said they were left disappointed that Rocky didn’t thank the White House — even behind the scenes.
Unfortunately for the administration, ASAP Rocky apparently “ghosted” them whenever he returned to the United States following his release.
Rocky did, however, take to social media to thank his friends, family, and fans for their support during his time behind bars.