16 Respected Celebrities Who Committed Heinous Crimes

6. Jay-Z

In December 1999, while Jay Z was partying at Manhattan’s Kit Kat Klub, his associates allegedly caused a distraction to allow an opportunity for the rapper to stab record executive, Lance Rivera. Jay-Z had come to believe that Rivera was responsible for the bootlegging of Vol 3…Life and Time Of S. Carter. Jay reportedly stabbed Rivera in the stomach with a five inch blade. Jay surrendered to police the following evening and was placed under arrest, although he was soon released on $50,000 bail. When he was indicted in Manhattan Criminal Court in late January 2000, Jay pleaded not guilty. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and accepted a three-year probation sentence. Jay Z later addressed the incident in his 2010 book Decoded:

“One night I went to Q-Tip’s solo album release party and at some point in the night, I ran into the guy everyone’s been telling me is behind the bootleg. So I approached him. When I told him what I suspected, to my surprise, he got real loud with me right there in the middle of the club. It was strange. We separated and I went over to the bar. I was sitting there like, “No the f*ck this n*gga did not…..” I was talking to people, but I was really talking to myself out loud, just in a state of shock. Before I even realized what I was doing, I headed back over to him, but this time I was blacking out with anger. The next thing I knew, all hell had broken loose in the club. That night the guy went straight to the police and I was indicted…There was no reason to put my life on the line, and the lives of everyone who depends on me, because of a momentary loss of control….. I vowed to never allow myself to be in a situation like that again.”