Juice Wrld's death: Wendy Williams and rapper Fat Joe blame glorification of drugs and pill-popping culture
The news about the accidental overdose death of Juice Wrld hung heavy in the air on 'The Wendy Williams Show' December 10. Host Wendy Williams, after telling her audiences about the tragic death, kept an uncharacteristic silence for 15 seconds, at a loss for words.
She then quoted rapper Joyner Lucas who was one of the first to tweet about Juice Wrld's death, saying, "Juice Wrld was 21. He was a product of our generation of rappers who glorified drugs and made it cool. I'm blaming Yal n****z for this s**t. All that lean and pills n****z glorify and talk about. You teaching the kids to do it. Smh you happy now? Rip @JuiceWorlddd. Gone too soon”
Willaims endorsed Lucas' point of view, saying: "I mean, it's harsh but true. Horrible." She then talked about his death with her guest Fat Joe who was promoting his album 'Family Ties', which released December 6.
The rapper told Williams that despite the easy access to narcotics, especially weed, he had never done drugs, which is why he was still healthy. "You look good!" Williams commented.
Fat Joe said he had met Juice Wrld "one time" and he found him to be a "beautiful kid". He said when he was younger, people in his generation knew they were smoking crack or heroin, or "something disgusting". But now, he said, the pills were prescribed and were "cool" so kids didn't think they were doing drugs and popped as many as they wanted.
He blamed the pill-popping culture for the rash of pill overdose cases in the Bronx. "The kids need watching," he claimed. Taking his own advice, Fat Joe said 'Family Ties' (with a host of featured guest appearances from Cardi B, Eminem, Lil' Wayne, Mary J. Blige, Remy Ma, and Ty Dolla $ign), will be his last album for now.
"My daughter just turned 13 and that is an impressionable age. So I want to be there as a father," he told Williams.
‘The Wendy Williams Show’ airs every weekday at 11 a.m. PT.