Hit-Making Rapper Arrested During U.S. Army Base Performance
Rapper Sean Kingston was arrested Thursday night in a California U.S. Army base while he was there for live performance. His arrest came just hours after his mother, Janice Turner, was taken into custody during a SWAT raid at their shared Florida home.
34-year-old Kingston is a former hit-maker who hasn’t seen chart success in over a decade. He’s best known for his once-ubiquitous club (and middle school dance) track “Beautiful Girls,” as well as “Eenie Meenie,” his collaboration with Justin Bieber which appeared on Bieber’s 2010 debut album.
Kingston was in the middle singing “Eenie Meenie,” sans Bieber, when—The New York Post reports—authorities were seen in videos on social media at Fort Irwin, an Army base about 150 miles outside of Los Angeles. Kingston had long been scheduled to perform as part of the United States Army’s Family and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) Programs. He was booked into jail during his scheduled set.
Police arrested Kingston on a Florida warrant for fraud and theft charges. Kingston’s lawyer said that the arrest was in part due to a lawsuit filed against the rapper by Ver Ver Entertainment LLC, alleging breach of contract and fraud.
According to Ver Ver’s court filings (reviewed by NYP), Kingston reached out to them via Instagram to inquire about purchasing a 232-inch television and luxury sound system which retails for roughly $111,000. However, Kingston offered to pay part of that sum and make up the rest by producing promotional videos for the company which would feature Bieber.
However, the lawsuit claims Kingston had “no ongoing work” with Bieber at the time he commissioned the installation; nor did he “have any intention” of producing promotional materials of any kind.
In October, Kingston and Ver Ver signed an agreement which would see the rapper make a payment of $30,000, followed by a second installment of $47,827.16. He also agreed to produce $38,000 worth of promotional material for the tech company. Despite paying the initial $30,000, Ver Ver alleges that Kingston never remitted the second installment nor did he produce any promotional material.
“[Kingston] made these false statements to induce Plaintiff into a 232-inch installing Colossal TV and sound system with as small a down payment as possible,” the filing alleges.
Ver Ver’s attorney, Dennis Card, explained Kingston’s alleged grift to WBNS. “My client has a 150k televsion and sound system that’s in there. He’s also got a million dollars worth of watches that are in there. There’s an $80,000 custom bed that was ordered. This is an organized systematic [scam].”
Card continued: “[Kingston] works, he tells a story. He’s got basically a script. He says he works with Justin Bieber, and he lures people using his celebrity into having them release things without him paying for it, and then he simply never pays. He sends bogus methods of payments. He says that he’s going to pay, [but] nobody ever gets the money from Sean.”
Earlier on Thursday, Kingston’s mother was arrested on similar charges outside of their rented mansion in Southwest Ranches, FL. After Turner’s arrest, Kingston took to social media to reassure his fans in a since-deleted post.
“People love negative energy!” he wrote. “I am good and so is my mother! My lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
Correction: a previous version of this article stated that Kingston was arrested mid-performance, rather than during his appearance at the Army Base.