NEED TO KNOW
Playboi Carti has been charged with misdemeanor assault following an alleged altercation involving his girlfriend, his security guard and a Utah limousine driver.
The 30-year-old rapper, born Jordan Terrell Carter, was involved in the alleged altercation on Thursday, Oct. 2, local outlet KSL reported, citing a police report. TMZ also reported the news. Carti was in the state for his Antagonist Tour, which had a stop at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City the following night.
Deputies with the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office first responded to a report of two men fighting near River Road and U.S. Route 40, and spoke with the limo driver and Carti, as well as the “Sky” rapper’s girlfriend and security guard, all of whom were involved in the alleged altercation, KSL reported.
The driver, identified by TMZ as Carl Reynolds, said he was driving Carti and his entourage from Park City to Orem for the rapper’s tour rehearsal when the rapper and a woman, identified as his girlfriend, began fighting, according to KSL and TMZ.
Joseph Okpako/WireImage
Reynolds alleges that Carti and his girlfriend were in a heated argument, and claims the rapper threatened him as well as the woman with violence, per TMZ.
The driver told authorities that “the fight was escalating to a point he was uncomfortable and wanted to de-escalate and separate them,” the police report obtained by KSL states. “The client had two SUVs for service and the security guard was in the other one. [Reynolds] stated he contacted him and informed him he wanted them [in] different cars.”
Reyolds then stopped the vehicle, which the report stated “upset” Carti’s girlfriend, and everyone exited both vehicles, KSL reported. The same report alleges that Carti then “got upset and hit the girlfriend,” though the driver said he did witness the alleged incident, just the aftermath, when the unidentified woman was “hunched over” and “holding near her chest.”
The “Magnolia” rapper then hit Reynolds on the left side of his face while he was “not looking,” Reynolds alleges in the police report. Recounting the moment to KSL, he later said, “I turned my head for just a brief minute off to the right-hand side, and [Carti] hits me in the face.” He also described the hit to the Utah outlet as a punch.
The Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, Oct. 18, nor did a representative for Carti. Reynolds could not be reached.
Deputies observed “redness” on Reynolds’ left lower jaw “consistent with physical contact,” as well as “a line on his jaw with a space” seemingly “consistent with the space on a fist or open hand that is between knuckles,” according to the police report.
Prince Williams/WireImage
Carti allegedly admitted to punching Reynolds “for stopping in a weird place and dropping them off,” though his girlfriend told deputies that it was she, not the rapper, who hit the driver, per the report obtained by KSL. Carti’s security guard, meanwhile, told authorities that he elbowed the driver.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The Music artist also asked deputies “if there was a way to take care of it now,” one deputy who was on the scene wrote in the report. “I informed him no, it will need to go through the court process.”
Carti was issued a citation for assault following the Oct. 2 incident, per KSL. Another Utah outlet, ABC affiliate KUTV, reported that the rapper was charged with misdemeanor assault in Wasatch County a week after the incident, on Thursday, Oct. 9.
The rapper has faced several different charges and been arrested multiple times over the past few years, most recently in late 2022, when he was charged with assaulting his then-pregnant girlfriend. At the time, Carti’s ex Iggy Azalea, with whom he shares 5-year-old son Onyx, reacted to the news on social media.
