An old video of XXXTentacion physically abusing a teenager surfaced this week, but the rapper’s legal team is trying to discredit the whole incident. According to TMZ, XXXTentacles is not only claiming that the video was made in jest, but that the girl and her family are trying to extort him.
I’ve never jokingly wanted to let a man hit me, and given the 20-year-old’s history of abusing women it’s hard to believe that there isn’t something to the video. In the clip, which was reportedly filmed in 2013, X is seen dancing behind a woman who is filming herself. He then smacks her on the head before the video cuts off. The footage was reportedly taken when X and the girl were 16 years old.
TMZ’s source told the outlet that the girl’s grandparents called Tentacion’s team “asking what they'd be willing to do to ‘make everything good,’” which they assumed means the family was asking for money. The alleged victim also posted the following to her Instagram story earlier this week: “For those questioning why I didn’t come forth earlier was because I was terrified for my life..imagine someone doing that to u unprovoked.? At 16? Let alone the people he associates himself w/? truth of the matter is I would still be holding on to this secret if it wasn’t leaked.”
His legal team is disputing the claim that the video is anything but a joke, and offered up a theory as to why the video is surfacing now. "This 'terrified' woman decides to post this video now, conveniently, when [XXX] becomes famous. Draw your own conclusions,” his attorney Jaclyn Broudy told TMZ.
But here’s another theory: the rapper did abuse that young woman. He’s currently on the tail end of another domestic abuse case, of which the horrifying details became public last year. XXX might not be going anywhere anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean incidents like this should be swept under the rug or normalized.
