NEWS
Joe Budden has never been the type to shy away from making people react online. The rapper turned podcaster sparked another round of conversation this weekend while he and the JBP crew talked about Megan Thee Stallion. During her defamation trial involving blogger Milagro Gramz, a Roc Nation staff member revealed that Megan once received an opportunity from the Call Of Duty video game franchise.
After she discovered she would be presented as a character players could shoot at, she turned the offer down. "That triggered her and she full stop said ‘I’m not doing this," Senior VP of Branding and Strategic Partnerships at Roc Nation Daniel Kinney explained.
Joe Budden and the rest of the team agreed that Megan had every reason to make that choice. The conversation shifted, however, once Joe added his own thought. "I do not even play Call Of Duty, I would have bought it off the strength."
Many people viewed that remark as an inappropriate joke tied to a serious situation. Those critics assumed Joe was suggesting he would purchase the game because it might allow players to shoot or "kill" Megan. For nearly a full day, he did not offer any follow up to clear up what he meant.
A recently surfaced audio clip from the JBTV After Hours show finally gives some clarity from Budden himself.
In the audio, Joe admits that his timing was "ill timed" and makes it clear that he is not attempting to defend the remark. He also explains that he did not say it for the purpose of cracking a joke.
His reasoning was the following: "If one of the number one games is trying to put you in as a shootable character, then that must have had data that says that will get a causal fan to the store, just for that reason."
He adds more context by saying, "So, I said as someone who does not play the game, I would go get the game. Again, maybe ill timed, but it was not so jokey jokey."
People are still pushing back on his comments, stating that he is simply trying to talk his way around what he said and that he did not truly mean any of this. As he also mentions in the clip, "There are a lot of agendas being pushed, none of them being mine."
In the end, listeners can either accept his explanation or dismiss it and disagree.
Megan's trial began on Thursday, November 20, in a Miami federal courtroom. She took the stand for roughly two hours that day, defending her belief that Milagro Gramz "created a space for a lot of people to come speak negatively about me." On Friday, November 21, Gramz' legal team cross examined her and challenged the strength of her claims.
Gary Glitter entered not guilty pleas on Wednesday to eight allegations involving sexual offences from decades ago.
The Rock and Roll performer, whose legal name is Paul Gadd, joined proceedings at London's Southwark Crown Court by video from prison and denied every allegation.
The charges include four allegations of indecent assault, two of indecency involving a child and two of sexual intercourse with a girl younger than 13.
BBC News reported that the 82 year old declared he was "absolutely not guilty" when answering two allegations before responding "not guilty" to the other six.
Judge Tony Baumgartner set the case to begin on 22 November 2027, with proceedings anticipated to continue for approximately three weeks.
Each allegation concerns the same person and relates to events said to have occurred at Gadd's residence in London's Kensington area from 12 March 1978 through 31 December 1981. She was reportedly between eight and 11 years old during that period.
The Crown Prosecution Service, also known as the CPS, confirmed the charges involving the former glam rock musician in July.
The claims were initially brought to the Metropolitan Police in January 2025. Gadd later faced questioning connected to the investigation in July of the same year.
The I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am) vocalist, who became widely known during the 1970s, remained in custody following the court appearance.
