It was a rough Sunday for rapper Soulja Boy, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, who was arrested early Sunday morning in Los Angeles. The LAPD arrested him on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm during a routine traffic stop. The arrest occurred around 2:50 a.m. when officers stopped a vehicle at the intersection of Genesee and Melrose, where Soulja Boy was a passenger.
This arrest is Soulja Boy’s second gun-related arrest. In December 2016, law enforcement found an unregistered firearm at his home in the Hollywood Hills. At the time, he was still on probation. After that arrest, he pleaded no contest to the felony weapons charge and misdemeanor charge in April 2017. In exchange, he was sentenced to five years of probation and to undertake 240 days of community service.
In April 2023, a jury found him liable for sexually assaulting a woman at a party in his Malibu home in 2019. They also directed him to pay $235,900 in punitive damages to the injured man. This amount awarded was equal to the compensatory damages awarded the same woman a week earlier. Soulja Boy has a long history of denying these assault allegations.
The arrest on Sunday is just the latest in a long, embarrassing streak of police encounters for the 35-year-old artist. He is probably best known for being the Architect of the Recording industry. His breakout single “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” became a cultural phenomenon in the late 2000s. He attended the NBA 2K23 Launch Event in Los Angeles on September 7, 2022, showcasing his continued presence in entertainment.
ABC News contacted Soulja Boy’s representatives for a response to his recent arrest. To date, they have failed to do so. Since the incident, the LAPD has been actively investigating the case. New information about what transpired during the traffic stop and the resulting charges keep coming to light.
