The Young Thug trial continues to take unexpected turns. The rapper's lawyer, Brian Steel, confronted both the judge and the prosecution over meeting with a witness in private. The lawyer's refusal to reveal his source subsequently led to him being charged with criminal contempt. The judge sentenced him to 10 weekends in jail, which translates to 20 days. Steel has now been granted bond, however. This means he won't have to serve time behind bars.
Steel's own attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, confirmed this development on Wednesday, June 12. "We are thrilled that Brian will be home with his family for Father’s Day this weekend," she told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "We appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully our appellate courts handled this unfortunate situation." It was unclear whether Steel would be granted bond. Prior to being granted bond, he asked if he could serve his jail time alongside his client, Young Thug, so they could continue to work on the case. "Those 20 days consisting of every weekend for the next 10 weekends," the judge originally ordered. "Tt’s to commence this Friday, June the 14th at 7 p.m. and not to end until Sunday, August the 18th, 2024, at 7 p.m."
Brian Steel's commitment to his client has been ironclad. The lawyer spoke highly of Young Thug during an interview with 11Alive in 2023. He not only refuted the charges made against Thug, but made a case for the rapper being a hero. "[He's] wrongly charged," he asserted. "I think a person like Jeffery Williams is a hero and not a criminal... He has given jobs to people only in the inner community. He'll only hire from the inner communities in his studios or his rap label." Furthermore, Steel praised Thug for being a good role model on the youth. "He goes around our country," the lawyer claimed. "And he tells people, 'Hustle doesn't mean sell drugs.'"
Young Thug has been similarly complimentive of Steel. He even gave a shout out to the lawyer on his 2018 song "Oh Okay." The rapper used Steel as one of the many examples of his lavish lifestyle. "Cop a Bugatti out of there. I got on white, I can't kneel," he raps. "Pour out the pint, watch it spill, yeah (Oh, oh, okay). My lawyer Brian Steel, yeah (Okay)." Gunna and Lil Baby are the other artists on the song, which subsequently gives "Oh Okay" a complicated historical context. Gunna was part of the YSL indictment. He decided to cop a plea deal, however, to avoid prison time. The rapper's decision has led to widespread speculation that he "snitched" on Thug. He adamantly denies this.
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Icewear Vezzo has walked back his initial comments about Amanda Seales being a “weirdo” and a “lying little girl,” and now has nothing but love for her.
On Sunday (June 16), both Vezzo and Peezy shared a photo with Donald Trump – much to the disdain of many, including Seales.
In an Instagram post shortly afterward, the actress and activist spoke out against people who take “pictures with people who have actively harmed us as a community,” while noting, among other things, that getting close to people like the former President and acting like “the good Black” won’t make anybody “the next Martin Luther King.”
Vezzo quickly clapped back on his Instagram Story, calling Seales the aforementioned names and saying that she does nothing for the community “except tear us down in the name of building us up.” He also said she is “fake woke and full of shit” and that she lies on Black men.
The post didn’t remain up for long, however, and he soon wrote a comment on Instagram informing his audience that the two had connected.
“I talked to Amanda. It’s all love,” he wrote. “She’s a woman. I should’ve never went that hard on her no matter what she did. It’s not that serious. She’s entitled to her opinions, even tho there was an assumption made about me based off a picture with zero audio.”
He added: “I just want us to stop thinking the worse [sic] about each other before having a conversation and also learn to respectfully disagree. We are all one and we can teach one another and instead [of] tearing each other down because we disagree on something. I love all women. I have a daughter; that wasn’t cool. End of story. It’s all love.”
He also shared a video with Seales where they both were all smiles.
“This is a real queen. This is a real Black woman,” Vezzo says in the clip.
“I love my brothers. I love my people and I really appreciate that you have made moves to make moves for others,” Seales added.
In Icewear Vezzo’s initial post, the Iced Up Records boss shared a lengthy message about backing the 78-year-old presidential candidate.
“Told Donald I Made the 6 great again,” he wrote. “But naw in all seriousness everyone not gonna agree with this picture but we don’t all have to agree on everything I just know not many of us will ever have the chance to really speak up for us and address how we may really feel so I stepped out on faith I didn’t meet him as a rapper I met him as a man and a father who understands the only way to attempt change things is to address things.”
Soon after he began receiving criticism for his stance, the Clarity rapper shared a video to emphasize the importance of respectfully disagreeing with one another.
“Why can’t we respectfully agree to disagree?” he began. “You know what build great companies and great civilizations is they all went and got a team with people who think differently from them. If they went and got people that thought the exact same thing as them, then it wasn’t no need of hiring no people.”
In the post’s caption, he added: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t let social media think for you, go see for yourself. Dont agree with everything anybody does it’s not logical, & don’t draw conclusions without actually knowing what you’re talking about.”
