Lil Nas X was arrested on Thursday, August 21, in Los Angeles, following a disturbing incident.
The arrest, which came after police responded to reports of a man “nude in the street” on the 1100 block of Ventura Blvd, capped off a particularly challenging few months for the 26-year-old musician.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Lil Nas X allegedly had an altercation with an officer and was subsequently booked on a charge of battery on a peace officer.
Following his arrest, he was taken to a hospital for treatment and has since been discharged and booked. The booking report indicates he was charged with a misdemeanour and booked at 11:22 a.m.
The arrest follows months of public vulnerability from the rapper, who has been grappling with personal and professional struggles. In February, he took to social media to discuss his recent “flaky” and “all over the place” behaviour.
“These last few years were pretty difficult for me,” he shared in a video, revealing that he was only “just now, like arriving to this place of feeling confidence in myself and what I’m doing.”
He added that he was “trying to make sure I put intention towards my music and my vision and the creativity of it all.”
Since then, the rapper has opened up about his deliberate step back from the limelight. In a March interview with People magazine, he explained, “I had to experience a mundane life.”
The artist, who “jumped straight into adulthood with extreme fame around” him, found solace in simple activities like “walking and meeting people in the streets and eating at restaurants, just even alone, spending a lot of alone time in solitude.”
A month later, he revealed another health scare when he was hospitalised after he “lost control of the right side” of his face. While he shared a glimpse of what he was dealing with, he never publicly disclosed a specific diagnosis.
Hours after his recent arrest, TMZ published photos showing what appeared to be the singer walking down Ventura Blvd around 4 a.m., wearing only underwear and boots.
The outlet also reported that several calls were made to law enforcement to report a possible overdose, though the police spokesperson could not confirm this detail.