Lil Twist Claims He Took Drug Charges for Justin Bieber

UPDATE (JUNE 12):

Lil Twist has issued an official statement following his radio interview claiming he took drug charges for Justin Bieber in the past. "We are at a very critical point in society as we rewrite a new narrative that encompasses the experience of being Black in America," the statement reads. "However, rewriting a new narrative requires one to stand in and speak his or her truth with confidence. While promoting my TV show [Growing Up Hip-Hop], the subject of certain events with Bieber were brought up, and in the spirit of being authentic, I felt it a disservice to my fans and the general public to not be completely transparent about my experience. I believe that if you truly support the Black Lives Matter movement, Black people, and Black culture, your actions have to reflect that"

ORIGINAL STORY: 

Lil Twist claims some of the legal heat he took early in his career was from trying to protect Justin Bieber's image at the request of the singer's team.

In a clip posted to YouTube on Wednesday (June 10), radio personality Mina SayWhat spoke with Lil Twist about Growing Up Hip-Hop, the reality show he's on, as well as claims Bieber's team used him to cover for the singer's legal issues in the early 2010s. This was around the time when Bieber was getting himself into a bit of legal trouble.

"If they would have put weed charges on Justin in his early career, it would have been bad on him," Twist begins. "So I got a call one day saying, 'Twist, do you really love this kid?' I said, 'Yes.' They said, 'Cool, if you love him then you can take the heat for him because you can come off a little weed charge. You're associated with Lil Wayne. You're a rapper.'"

It is unclear which incident the former XXL Freshman is referring to in the clip. However, according to the Los Angeles Times, in July of 2013, he was pulled over in Bieber's car and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of marijuana. "He was stopped and he was arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana," a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County sheriff's department said at the time.

As the clip continues, the 27-year-old rapper explains that he wasn't even present for a lot of the stories that contributed to the negative headlines that were made about himself. "Then it got to a point where I didn't even have to be there at times and they were putting it 'Twist did it, Twist did it, Twist did it.' It became overwhelming," he claims.

During the earlier days of Justin's career, he and Twist had a close friendship. In spite of the negative publicity the "Love Affair" rapper believes is responsible for damaging his music career, he maintains that he has nothing but love for Justin.

The conversation between Twist and Mina stems from Bieber admitting that he has benefitted from Black culture.

Watch the full clip below.

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