President Donald Trump issued a full pardon for rapper NBA YoungBoy on Wednesday as part of a marathon of presidential pardons and clemencies announced this week.
“I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist,” the rapper, whose real name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, said in a statement posted on Instagram.
NBA YoungBoy, a 25-year-old multi-platinum artist, has been in and out of jail and prison for multiple federal charges related to drug and gun possession dating back to 2016. He was released from federal prison last month after serving three years in custody and on house arrest.
“This moment means a lot. It opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for, and I am fully prepared to step into this,” said the rapper after Thursday’s announcement.
NBA YoungBoy’s pardon comes after President Trump on Tuesday pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, former Virginia sheriff Scott Jenkins, and former executive Paul Walczak, who were convicted of a range of crimes related to fraud and tax evasion. On Wednesday, Trump also commuted the federal sentence of former Chicago kingpin Larry Hoover.
The clemencies from President Trump have been shepherded by his “pardon czar,” Alice Johnson, who was famously pardoned by Trump in 2018 after serving more than 20 years in federal prison for a drug trafficking conviction. NBA YoungBoy thanked Johnson for “fighting for second chances for so many people.”
Despite facing criticisms for most of his pardons this week, the clemency announcement for NBA YoungBoy is likely to be a popular decision among Black and young Americans, notes political strategist Ameshia Cross.
“This is a very clear effort to reach a certain population…individuals who may feel like they were cast away at a certain point, but also folks who say, ‘Hey, people make mistakes when they’re younger. He’s here for us,’” Cross told theGrio. “He is once again resetting the narrative, and that’s something that he’s been very good at throughout the course of his career.”
As critics take aim at some of the pardons related to those who committed white-collar crimes similar to those for which Trump was convicted or has been accused of committing, Cross said his pardon of NBA YoungBoy stands to “neuter” other negative stories.
Trump, as a decades-long New York City tabloid phenom and businessman before entering politics, is skilled at “shaping how media handles discussions and shifting when he feels like the heat is getting too hot in the kitchen.”
“We’ve seen him, once again, pull the rabbit out of his hat,” said Cross.
