Lil Nas X’s father, Robert Stafford, has revealed an emotional jail visit with his son following the “Old Town Road” rapper’s recent arrest.
“I went to visit him in jail and as soon as I walked through that door, I couldn’t do anything but cry,” Stafford told London’s The Times in an interview published on Friday, August 29. “To see my baby boy on the other side of that glass. We shed tears with each other for a minute. And I had to tell him that ‘what you’re going through is normal.’ We all have breakdowns every now and then, but the difference is, yours get played out in the public eye.”
Lil Nas X (real name Montero Lamar Hill) was arrested in the early hours of August 21 when he was found wandering the streets of Los Angeles. Viral footage shot before the arrest showed Lil Nas wearing a traffic cone on his head. He was hospitalized, but later charged with four felonies — three counts of battery with injury to a police officer and one count of resisting arrest — over police allegations that he tried to “batter an officer.”
The two-time Grammy Award winner was eventually released on a $75,000 bond ahead of a pretrial hearing on September 15. He has hired powerhouse attorney Drew Findling — who previously represented Donald Trump in an election interference case — as his legal counsel.
Lil Nas X Called Last Few Years ‘Difficult’ Months Before Arrest
Prior to his bond release, he was visited at the Valley Jail in Van Nuys, California, by his father. Stafford, a gospel musician, theorized in his interview with the U.K. publication that Lil Nas X buckled under the responsibility of being a “breadwinner for a lot of people” and the “pressure he puts on himself” to surpass his previous career successes. (Lil Nas X has spent the last three years working on the follow-up to his 2021 debut album Montero, which hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and went two-times platinum in the U.S.)
Stafford remembered one particularly powerful moment during his jailhouse reunion where Lil Nas X asked his father to pass along a message to fans.
“When I went to visit, he asked me to say, ‘tell everybody I’m sorry they saw me like that,’” Stafford recalled. “Even in that moment, he was apologizing to people for something he was going through.”
Looking ahead, Lil Nas X’s father expressed hope that the musician’s arrest would be “a turning point in his mental stability.”
“Sometimes, God will take you through your worst moment to give you your best moment,” Stafford pointed out.
Stafford previously told reporters outside the Van Nuys jail that his son “absolutely [did] not” have any “illegal drugs” in his system at the time of his arrest.
“He’s very remorseful for what happened, but it can happen to any family. He’s going to get the help that he needs,” Stafford told reporters. “And just keep him in your prayers. Give him the same grace and mercy that God gives everyone.”
Lil Nas X broke his silence for the first time since his arrest with an Instagram Story on Tuesday, August 26, where he described his ordeal as “f***ing terrifying.”
Lil Nas X Gives Update After Revealing He ‘Lost Control’ Of Half His Face
“You girl is going to be OK, y’all,” Lil Nas X promised his fans. “She’s going to be alright. She’s going to be alright. S***. That was f***ing terrifying. That was terrifying. That was a terrifying last four days, but your girl is going to be alright.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
