Drake’s alleged beef with XXXTENTACION was the focus of a recent hearing in the Florida rapper’s murder trial, with the defense arguing the 6 God should submit a deposition.
XXXTENTACION had briefly scolded Drizzy in 2017, accusing him of stealing his ideas both musically, as well as visually for his “God’s Plan” music video.
While the beef appeared one-sided and never escalated, X’s murder in 2018 found fans digging up a slew of social media posts the “Look At Me!” rapper posted prior to his death.
One tweet read: “If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi.” However, X claimed at the time that the post was the result of a hacker and asked fans to disregard it.
No evidence in the case has ever been presented linking Drake to X’s murder, but that hasn’t stopped one of the defendants’ lawyers from listing the Toronto hitmaker and a number of other high-profile rap figures as potential witnesses in the case.
As jury selection kicked off on Wednesday (January 11), the attorneys for three of the suspects — Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24 — appeared in court for pre-trial hearings. They asked the judge to not only force XXXTENTACION’s mother Cleopatra Bernard to disclose her earnings following her son’s death, but to compel the 6 God to submit a written deposition.
“This is one of the biggest celebrities in the world,” said Williams’ attorney Maurico Padilla. “Excluding an order from this court, we all know that I will never be able to take his deposition.”
While Judge Michael Usan ruled in Padilla’s favor in regard to XXX’s mother’s earnings, he said he saw no point in getting a deposition from Drake.
The latest update comes after a fourth suspect named Robert Allen entered a plea deal last August, and will be called to testify against the other three men, who stand accused of shooting and killing XXXTENTACION outside a motorsports dealership in Florida in June 2018.
“Mr. Allen entered a guilty plea this morning in the murder death of XXXTENTACION,” Allen’s attorney Jim Lewis told NBC Miami last summer. “He pleaded guilty to a lesser included offense of second-degree murder and robbery with a firearm. He still faces a life sentence.
“Obviously, we are hoping for better than that. But his sentence is deferred and it is likely he will be called as a witness in the case against the other three co-defendants.”
He continued: “Mr. Allen’s role was much less than the other three involved. It was always kind of contemplated that the State was looking to use him as a witness in the case. And finally we came to an agreement and plead to the agreement today.
“Again, his involvement was much less than the others. More of an accusatory after the fact than really part of the planning. Certainly never got out of the car, never had a gun, never shot anybody. And hopefully the judge and the State will take this into consideration.”
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