Afroman (real name Joseph Edgar Foreman) was arrested Tuesday evening (Feb. 17) after he viciously punched a woman in the face during a concert in Biloxi, Mississippi. In a video posted online, the "Because I Got High" rapper was seen playing a guitar on a small stage in front of the crowd when a female fan somehow made her way onto the stage and started dancing next to Afroman.
Without warning, the 40-year-old spun around and hit the woman in her face sending her crashing to the ground. Afroman continued to play the guitar as a male fan hopped on stage to help the injured woman.
According to TMZ, police eventually arrived and escorted Afroman off the stage and arrested him outside the venue. He was taken to jail and charged with assault but was released after he posted his $330 bond. A rep for the rapper issued a statement saying that Afroman "reacted to someone being on stage" and blamed a lack of security for the woman being able to make her way onto the stage during the rapper's performance.
On Wednesday, Afroman issued another statement telling TMZ, "I'm here to apologize. I need some help. I'm going to find a foundation."
"I didn't have time to medicate. It was an early show," he added. "I usually play at night and I've had my dinner and I medicate, I get right... it was an early show, it was Mardi Gras, I had to walk like half a mile to get there, I had my frustrations to make a long story short."
According to The Mirror, he said that there was a lot of commotion near the side of the stage and a guy had been heckling him.
"I thought it was the guy trying to heckle my act," Afroman told TMZ. "When people get on stage you don't know what they're doing. I'm just trying to do my job, and I thought it was that guy. I turned around and you know man, s**t."
"It was wrong, I shouldn't have slapped her with an open hand," he added. "And security should have been there... I'm just here to do me, I shouldn't, what happened shouldn't have happened. I'm just trying to make the best out of a bad situation."
Afroman also confessed that this is the second time this has happened and told TMZ that during a concert in Cincinnati a man had jumped up on stage.
"I'm gonna call a time out and I need to come up with a better plan," he said. "I knew there was a problem, I mean this ain't right, I came to sing I didn't come to go to jail, I didn't come to hit a heckler, I need some anxiety management."
