He was to receive hot wings. Now, the future of his chicken feast at UF is in limbo.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained rapper 21 Savage detained on Sunday morning in Atlanta, according to The Associated Press.
The Grammy-nominated rapper, whose full name is She'yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was scheduled to perform at the O’Connell Center on Feb. 27 in celebration of Black History Month, but it is now unclear if that will take place.
21 Savage was arrested as part of a targeted operation involving local and federal authorities, according to AP.
The university planned to pay $110,000 for the performance due by Feb. 27 by check, according to his contract with UF. 21 Savage is scheduled to give an hour-long performance hosted by Student Government Productions and the Black Student Union.
Tickets for the Feb. 27 concert went on sale last Wednesday for students in a presale for $10 each, and then became available to the public the next day for $20 each. More than 6,000 tickets were available and were all sold, according to an SGP statement.
Andrew Kelly, the chairman of SGP, wrote in an email that the organizations that planned the event were surprised to hear the news of the rapper’s arrest.
“We are working with our agents and will post an update once we have more information,” he said.
Kelly declined to answer further questions on how 21 Savage’s detention will affect the concert and ticket sales and said to follow SGP social media for updated information.
The staff working with 21 Savage in his UF contract could not be reached for comment.
The contract included a clause that stated if the performance was rendered impossible by “any act or regulation of any public authority or bureau,” neither party can claim damages, and any deposit already made to the artist may be retained. A clause that would allow the artist to cancel was crossed out.
Bryan Cox, an ICE spokesperson, said in a statement to AP that 21 Savage is a British citizen, and he had overstayed his visa, which expired in July 2006.
In 2014, 21 Savage was convicted of felony drug charges in Georgia, Cox told AP.
His lawyer, Dina LaPolt, is currently working on getting 21 Savage out of federal immigration detention, according to AP. He is undergoing deportation proceedings in federal immigration court.
LaPolt told AP he is a role model to several people in the U.S., especially children in the Atlanta area.
The Atlanta Police Department and ICE could not be reached for comment.
Correction: This article was updated to reflect that a cancellation clause was crossed out of the contract. The Alligator previously reported differently.
This article was updated to reflect that 21 Savage's legal name is She'yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, according to a statement from his attorneys.
FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, file photo, 21 Savage performs at the Voodoo Music Experience in City Park in New Orleans. Authorities in Atlanta say Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage is in federal immigration custody. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox says the artist, whose given name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested in a targeted operation early Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in the Atlanta area. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
