Rapper Lil Twist claims he was Justin Bieber's 'scapegoat' in 2010 drug charge: 'It would have been bad for him'
Rapper Lil Twist, whose real name is Christopher Lynn Moore, is claiming that his friendship with Justin Bieber in the early 2010s cost him dearly. He claims he was made a scapegoat in a drug charge as per the whims of Bieber’s management. Twist made the claims on Philadelphia radio personality Mina SayWhat’s podcast 'Mina’s House ' on June 10.
The rapper explained, “If they would have put weed charges on Justin in his early career, it would have been bad on him. So I got a call one day saying, ‘Twist, do you really love this kid?’ I said, ‘Yes.’" He noted, “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.’”
Twist doesn’t go into much detail about the specific events which he took legal heat for. But, according to the Los Angeles Times, in July of 2013, Twist was pulled over in Bieber's car and arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana, as per the Los Angeles County sheriff's department. Additionally, in 2013, TMZ reported that Twist threw a marijuana-filled party at Bieber's mansion, except, Bieber was away in Europe.
As the video continued, Twist explained that he wasn't even present for a lot of the negative stories that involved him. "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.
A source familiar with the situation said that while “Justin and Twist don’t have a relationship anymore, Justin wishes Twist well and finds these comments unfortunate and completely untrue," according to Page Six.
On June 11, Twist released a statement which read in part, “While promoting my TV show, 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.”
Independent of Bieber, Twist has been in several scrapes with the law, such as his year-sentence to prison for his beatdown and robbery of Nickelodeon actor Christopher Moore in 2014, as well the reports of a “blowout fight” between Bieber and manager Scooter Braun following allegations of assault by a woman against Twist.