Vengeful former Roc-a-Fella artist Beanie Sigel is receiving public support from fellow Philly native and boxing legend Bernard Hopkins, who verified the rumored police incident that ignited the Jay-Z/Beanie Sigel feud.
The former middleweight and light-heavyweight champion revealed in an exclusive appearance on AllHipHop Radio’s Eric B. & Friends Morning Show yesterday (November 23).
According to Hopkins, who appeared in Beanie Sigel’s State Property 2 film, Jay-Z had dozens of cops and dogs on hand to accost Sigel and remove Sigel from an October Powerhouse concert in Philadelphia.
“He had K9’s smelling, they said everybody had to move to the side to escort Beans out,” Hopkins told AllHipHop Radio. “I’m coming like yo what are all these police for? See you’re the man, you shut this sh*t down, it’s your show!”
Host Eric B attempted to defend Jay, rationalizing to Hopkins that Jay-Z has the same police presence at all his concerts, and the Sigel situation was likely just a security overreaction.
“In Jay’s defense, I think that’s John Menially {Jay-Z’s manager] and them, because Jay don’t really know what’s happening behind the scenes,” Eric B explained. “That’s them overreacting and then they blame Jay and say he knows exactly what’s happening. Bernard that’s like when you come to the ring, you don’t know what happened at the ticket booth, or with security, but ultimately you’re responsible.”
Hopkins remained skeptical of the explanation, and confirmed Sigel’s side that authorities targeted him specifically on direct orders.
“This was set up beforehand because they didn’t want Beans or none of the bulls in there. I didn’t want to get into it too deep, but there was more to it,” Hopkins maintained. “It was in and out, and they were looking for hammers and everything. I understand this wasn’t a regular show, but this was a whole different look, on some assassination bullsh*t. If that didn’t happen, I could probably agree with you [about Jay]. But when they go look for one dude, and tell him he got to leave? Maybe I’m wrong. Beans’ thing on the radio shows is that nobody was real with him.”
The Powerhouse incident, along with perceived shots on Jay-Z’s blockbuster Blueprint 3, prompted Sigel to lash out with several diss songs over the past month: “Average Cat,” “How I Could Kill Jigga Man,” and “Think Big.”
Additionally, Sigel publicly proclaimed his signing to 50 Cent, who in the weeks leading up to his latest LP (Before I Self Destruct) unsuccessfully tried to bait Jay-Z into a battle.
To date, Jay has not officially retaliated to Sigel or 50 Cent’s attacks.
However, fans have speculated that Jay-Z’s tongue in cheek rendition of his “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t” phrase at the American Music Awards was a veiled reference to 50 Cent’s rumored subpar 1st week numbers for Before I Self-Destruct.
Bernard Hopkins is scheduled to make his return to the ring on December 2 against Enrique Ornelas.
The fight will air on the Versus network. If victorious, Hopkins will face longtime rival Roy Jones Jr in a PPV rematch on March 13.
