After footage of Kodak Blackwalking out on his interview with Hot 97 circulated Wednesday night, people began attacking Ebro and the show for bringing up the rapper’s pending sexual assault case. Others rushed to his defense.
So Ebro and the crew took time on their Thursday show to address the backlash, and deliberate over whether or not they handled the situation correctly. In a new video posted by the New York radio station, Ebro, Peter Rosenberg, and Laura Stylez discuss why they decided to bring up Kodak’s ongoing case in the first place.
“It would be irresponsible for us to do the show, where we talk about all the things we talk about, social justice, the #MeToo movement, Trump...to have the artist on the show, talk about how talented the artist is, and never once mention that in April he faces sexual assault charges for a woman raped in a hotel room,” Rosenberg said.
He’s referring to the point when, toward the end of a relatively positive 15-minute interview with Kodak, Ebro brought up the charges. "With respect to everybody involved in that case, you know we can't get into details today. But, you know, we take sexual assault here serious," the host said. "We can't get into details, but we hope to have you back so we can have a deeper conversation about that because it's a serious topic."
According toBillboard, Kodak legally can’t talk about specifics of the case, likely because it involves a minor. With that in mind, it makes sense that Kodak awkwardly remained silent.
Rosenberg then attempted to change the subject to the moon landing, but Kodak continued to be standoffish, which is when the interview really went downhill.
"You seem upset that I brought it up," Ebro tells the rapper, referring to the sexual assault comments.
"I feel like sometimes when n***as be going through s**t, like, y'all be entertained by bulls**t," Kodak said. "Change the subject, or else I'm finna walk out."
"We don't have to talk about nothing else, we can be done right here," Ebro responded.
After some back and forth, and listener calls about how Ebro handled the situation, the host admits that while he doesn’t regret bringing up the case, he never wanted the interview to go sour.
“I did not want it go that way. I’m not happy it went that way. I feel bad that it went that way, because I felt like I was honestly trying to have a balanced conversation with an individual who has a crazy past, dealing with some very real things, it’s very right now,” Ebro said. “It makes nobody happy. I really really wanted to end that in a good way.”
Kodak is currently facing sexual assault charges for allegedly raping a teenage girlin 2016. His trial for the alleged sexual assault will begin April 2019. If convicted, the rapper faces up to 30 years in prison.
