When you think of Nelly, you probably think of his early hits — “Hot in Herre,” “Country Grammar,” “Ride wit Me,” all those early 2000s jams.
But, to be real, you probably don’t even think of Nelly much at all, which is fair.
His music career just isn’t what it used to be, and that’s true in many ways.
He’s not nearly as popular as he once was, but he’s also been doing country music and Cheerios commercials, which … well, we all make choices.
And if Nelly’s popularity was declining before, this new development certainly won’t help things.
See, Nelly is currently on tour with Florida Georgia Line, and last night they played a show in Washington.
But in a horrifying turn of events, Nelly was arrested early this morning.
For rape.
According to a statement from local police, “At 3:48 AM a female called 911 to report that she was sexually assaulted by a male, who is known as the rapper ‘Nelly."”
“The alleged assault was reported to occur on the tour bus that was parked at the listed location. Nelly had performed at the White River Amphitheater just hours before.”
The “listed location,” by the way, was a Walmart parking lot.
“After Patrol Officers investigated the incident,” the statement continues, “at 4:37 AM Nelly was taken into custody and booked at the SCORE jail facility.”
Police are “continuing to investigate this incident,” but “the above details are all we have to release at this time.”
Though he was arrested at 4:37, he was released shortly after 8:00 AM.
So there aren’t too many details so far, but just the fact that he was arrested for rape is enough for us to be sincerely disgusted.
But according to a statement from his lawyer, “Nelly is the victim of a completely fabricated allegation.”
“Our initial investigation clearly establishes this allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness,” the lawyer adds
“I am confident, once this scurrilous accusation is thoroughly investigated, there will be no charges.”
“Nelly is prepared to address and pursue all legal avenues to redress any damage caused by this clearly false allegation,” the statement concludes.
Nelly is innocent until proven guilty, obviously, and it seems like so far the charges aren’t much of a concern — he has another show tonight, and he’s still scheduled to perform.
But it’s also worth noting that this isn’t this guy’s first time getting arrested on his tour bus.
Back in 2015, he was arrested after his bus was pulled over for lacking a required sticker. Officers smelled weed, so they did a search.
In addition to the marijuana, they found meth and several guns — not a great combo.
A few years before that, in 2012, his tour bus was pulled over another time, and this time police found several ounces of heroin, over ten pounds of weed, and a loaded gun.
He wasn’t arrested that time, but still, it wasn’t a great look.
We’ll share more details on his rape charges as soon as they’re available.