During the cross-examination of Trontavious "Tick" Stephens in the RICO case against Young Thug and YSL, attorneys for the Business is Business rapper highlighted celebrities including Serena Williams crip-walking and displaying gang signs to show that it's part of pop culture as a whole.
As highlighted by veteran reporter Meghann Cuniff, the rapper's attorney Brian Steel questioned Tick on Thursday, January 11 about the usage of gang imagery in pop culture. He pointed out Lil Wayne, of whom Thug is a huge fan, and his extensive tattoos. But he also asked Tick about celebrities, athletes, and other notable figures displaying crip gang signs during celebratory moments.
"Do you know who Serena Williams is?" Steel asked Tick, who was a co-defendant in the case before taking a plea deal that halved his sentence. "Yeah," he responded. "Have you seen her at Wimbledon doing what's called the Crip Walk? Do you know what a Crip Walk is, first of all?" Steel continued. "I don't watch tennis," Tick said. Williams famously crip walked after winning the gold medal in women's singles at the 2012 Olympics, per The Washington Post.
While the question might seem absurd, it's part of Thug's defense's efforts to make it clear that his art is fiction and not fact. During the opening of the trial on Thursday, Rich Gang's "Lifestyle" was played in court, with everyone in attendance listening in silence, including Thug, who closed his eyes as the song played.
The latest moment comes not long after the trial was briefly interrupted by a hacker who got onto the trial's livestream to yell "mistrial" and "free Thug." The rapper also notably wore a 'Sex Records' shirt in a court appearance this week. The shirt included the phrase "Truly Humble Under God," which is a phrase that attorney Steel claimed was the meaning of part of his client's stage name.
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