Weezy F Baby, and the F is for “fake news.”
Multi-platinum rapper Lil Wayne, aka Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., will not be performing at Stony Brook this September for the annual “Back to the Brook” concert, despite an Instagram post from his official account stating otherwise.
“He is very mistaken,” Undergraduate Student Government Vice President of Student Life Jaliel Amador wrote in a text on Tuesday.
The post, since deleted, listed the New Orleans artist’s September tour dates, including Stony Brook University on Sept. 22. Lil Wayne was included in the initial poll USG set up on July 13 to track student preference for performers at Back to the Brook, but on July 17 Amador tweeted that Lil Wayne would be unable to perform due to security concerns.
“He expected to come into [Island Federal Credit Union Arena] without getting patted or wanded or pass through a metal detector, meanwhile he had a gun charge,” Amador wrote. “So, we had to withdraw our offer.”
Lil Wayne has been arrested on multiple drug charges in the last 10 years and served eight months of a one-year jail sentence in Rikers Island in 2010 after pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. The sentence was linked to a 2007 incident where he was arrested outside Beacon Theater in New York City for possession of marijuana and a .40 caliber pistol registered to his manager.
The policy of being cleared by security at IFCU Arena is one that applies to all individuals, including students, upon entering the arena, Amador said.
“That is standard for every concert we’ve had for every artist,” Assistant Chief of Police Eric Olsen said on Tuesday. “That’s not specific to him.”
The Instagram post was published at 9:05 Monday evening and was not taken down until around 3:30 Tuesday afternoon. The post’s deletion occurred shortly after an email request for comment was sent to Jason Pollak, the social media manager for Lil Wayne and Cash Money Records, the record label the rapper is signed to.
Pollak said he did not run the Instagram account and therefore was unsure about the cause of the mix-up, although he said he would “try to find out.” He included Devon Diaz into the email chain believing “she might have some answers.” She did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Diaz’s LinkedIn account indicates she is involved in “Artist Management” for Young Money Entertainment, Lil Wayne’s label and an imprint of Cash Money Records.
In lieu of Lil Wayne, USG signed on Post Malone to perform on Sept. 22 at IFCU Arena.
