Lil Nas X was arrested and hospitalized Tuesday (August 21) in Los Angeles after police say he was found unclothed in public and allegedly assaulted officers during the encounter.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers responded to reports of a naked man walking near downtown around 6 a.m. When they arrived, the man—later identified as the Grammy-winning rapper—allegedly charged at them and punched one officer twice in the face. He was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for evaluation.
Authorities initially suspected a drug-related episode, but toxicology results later confirmed Lil Nas X was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident. He now faces four felony charges and has pleaded not guilty.
The 26-year-old artist briefly addressed the ordeal in an Instagram Story posted Saturday (August 26), saying, “That was terrifying, that was terrifying, that was a terrifying last four days. But your girl’s gonna be all right.”
His father, Robert Stafford, spoke publicly about the incident in an interview with The Sunday Times, sharing insight into the emotional and professional weight his son has been carrying.
“I understand how the music business is,” Stafford said. “It’s like a high. When you get to that level, you want that drug again, you want to hit that high again.”
He continued, “For a 26-year-old to have to deal with what he’s dealing with — to be a breadwinner for a lot of people, the inability to change his mother’s situation and the pressure he puts on himself…”
Stafford described his jail visit with his son as emotional and painful. “To see my baby boy on the other side of that glass. We shed tears with each other for a minute,” he said. “And I had to tell him that ‘what you’re going through is normal’. We all have breakdowns every now and then, but the difference is, yours get played out in the public eye.”
He also shared a message on behalf of his son: “When I went to visit he asked me to say, ‘tell everybody I’m sorry they saw me like that’. Even in that moment, he was apologizing to people for something he was going through.”
Despite the legal trouble and public scrutiny, Stafford expressed hope for his son’s recovery and future. “Hopefully, this is a turning point in his mental stability,” he said. “Sometimes God will take you through your worst moment to give you your best moment.”
The LAPD confirmed the arrest and charges in a statement to NBC News. Lil Nas X remains out on bail and is awaiting further court proceedings.