Many people were involved in the effort to get rapper A$AP Rocky out of prison, but the “Praise The Lord” rapper only gave out a broad thank you on social media.
The Ohio Pastor who served on Donald Trump’s transition team, Darrell Scott, and Co-Chairman of Urban Revitalization Coalition Kareem Lanier were two allies who approached the White House on behalf of A$AP Rocky, according to a report published Thursday by Yahoo News. The pair claim they were approached by entertainment industry fixer, Hassan Muhammad.
Scott and Lanier saw this as an opportunity for Trump, considering the president’s work on criminal justice reform in the United States.
“The president is so pro-criminal justice reform, sentencing reform…we knew this would be something that would be right up his wheelhouse,” Lanier said. (RELATED: A$AP Rocky Thanks His Supporters After Being Released From Jail In Sweden)
While Scott and Lanier were in touch with Jared Kushner, reality star Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West were also advocating for the White House’s help in freeing Rocky. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ended up taking the lead on the White House’s involvement.
However, after Rocky was released on Aug. 2, he only released a thank you to friends and fans on Instagram. Lanier and Scott were left disappointed there was never a thank you given to the people who worked behind the scenes.
“The White House didn’t ask for anything,” Scott recalled. “There were no conditions attached, but my condition and Kareem’s condition was that all I’m asking for you guys to do is say thank you.”
Lanier pointed at the backlash high-profile African Americans receive for supporting President Trump as a reason for the lack of thank you.
“One of the problems that we have as a culture, and I’m talking about black Americans, is herd mentality,” Lanier said. “Right now it’s popular for those guys to bash President Trump.”
“All he had to do was do a two-minute call to say thank you,” Scott added. “Rocky hasn’t even called us and said, ‘Hey, man, thank you guys. I appreciate it,’ in private. Just in private.”