Boosie Badazz has declared that he’s not here for any sort of slander against DJ Vlad, the controversial owner and host of VladTV.
During a recent interview with the Baller Alert podcast, which dropped on Friday (May 26), the Baton Rouge native quickly stepped up for Vlad (real name Vladimir Lyubovny) when the podcast host accused him of being “the police.”
“I’ve never incriminated nobody on there. I’ve never said nothing to start a beef on there,” said Boosie, who is a regular guest on VladTV.
When the host pressed on, claiming that Boosie knows “how to handle himself,” the “Wipe Me Down” rapper acquiesced.
“Yes, and you should know how too if you’re a criminal or you’re a rapper,” he said. “Sometimes rappers go on [VladTV] and forget they are criminals. You can’t blame him! What the fuck? How the fuck he the police if he ain’t send me to jail?”
Boosie @BOOSIEOFFICIAL said do not blame DJ Vlad “how the fuck he the police if he ain’t send me to jail” https://t.co/KYqu7vY3sRpic.twitter.com/3xBAKOMkLG
— Baller Alert 🚨 (@balleralert) May 27, 2023
Despite Boosie’s comments, the question certainly begs itself: where did the allegations of Vlad being the “police” (and sometimes “the feds”) come from?
There’s some speculation that the origin of the rumor comes from a misinterpretation of a lawsuit that DJ Vlad filed against Rick Ross back in 2008, when he claimed that the MMG mogul orchestrated a “brutal attack” on him at the Ozone Awards in Houston, Texas.
According to an MTV News report at the time of the incident, the alleged attack left Vlad with “seven stitches below one of his eyes, three facial fractures, a corneal abrasion and possible permanent nerve damage,” which was retaliation for Vlad reporting on Rozay’s previous career as a correctional officer.
But because DJ Vlad was based in New York at the time and Ross was in Miami, and the alleged incident occurred in Houston, there was a question of jurisdiction. As a result, Vlad — through his attorney, Brian Caplan — filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, which is a federal court.
Though it’s not unusual for alleged incidents that happened across multiple states to go to federal court when there’s a jurisdictional issue, it’s possible that this lawsuit prompted the “Vlad is the police/feds” rumors to persist to this day.
Since 2008, however, many rappers have gone on VladTV and incriminated themselves in various crimes, to Boosie Badazz’s point. But fans continue to blame the YouTuber for rappers getting arrested and going to jail after they appear on his show, as was the case when Casanova found himself in a legal pickle in 2020 after snitching on himself during a VladTV interview.
A Twitter post made on December 7 of that year featured a YouTube video from Hip Hop Media Uncensored which suggested the FBI pulled information from VladTV interviews (despite the indictment making no such mention of the outlet). Hip Hop News Uncensored reported the feds had been watching Casanova since 2010, meaning they would’ve had plenty of time to dig into his media appearances.
The information used in the YouTube video came from the initial indictment that was unsealed in White Plains Federal Court. Eighteen Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation gang members, including Casanova, were accused of crimes ranging from murder and assault to narcotics trafficking.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shiva Logarajah wrote: “Using his public platform, he [Casanova] has amplified the message of the gang — both through his music and his social media profiles.”
InnerCityPress, the outlet that meticulously covered 6ix9ine’s racketeering trial, confirmed information Casanova supplied during his interviews — presumably with Vlad — was used in the indictment. But, as mentioned earlier, there’s no mention of VladTV in the indictment.
“In public interviews, he has admitted to stabbing inmates while incarcerated on those charges,” a tweet read. “And the Government has recovered photos from his iCloud account of several firearms, demonstrating his continued access to weapons. In addition to publicly promoting the gang and glorifying its activities, Senior [who was also indicted] is also a drug supplier for Gorilla Stone.”
