Yesterday, during an interview with rising but controversial Florida rap star Kodak Black, Hot 97 host Ebro Darden touched a raw nerve when he brought up the young rapper’s impending trial for sexual assault, prompting Kodak to end the interview and storm out of the studio. Today, Ebro addressed the interview, what went wrong, and how he thinks he and Kodak could both have handled things better.
After the interview, Ebro received as much backlash as he did praise for how he handled the situation. In the cilp above, his co-host, Peter Rosenberg, offers the show’s rationale for bringing up the case is to provide consistency in Ebro In The Morning‘s coverage of such sensitive, serious topics. “It would be irresponsible for us to do the show where we talk about all the things we talk about — social justice, the #MeToo movement, Trump — to have the artist on the show, talk about how talented the artist is, and never once mention that, in April, he faces sexual assault charges for a woman being raped in a hotel room,” Rosenberg explains.
Ebro further elaborates that he didn’t expect or want the interview to turn out the way it did, despite the increased attention it garnered the show. “I did not want it go that way,” he says. “I’m not happy it went that way. I feel bad that it went that way, because I felt like I was honestly trying to have a balanced conversation with an individual who has a crazy past, dealing with some very real things.”
With multiple folks weighing in on the debate, including Trick Daddy, Rosenberg takes Ebro to task for continuing to antagonize Kodak Black after he became disgruntled, but Ebro defends himself by pointing out that he was defending his co-stars after Kodak cursed at them.
“I feel like sometimes when n—-s be going through sh*t, like, y’all be entertained by bullsh*t,” Kodak said. “Change the subject, or else I’m finna walk out.” Ebro says when he heard that, it was a wrap, and he didn’t want to deal with Kodak anymore. He admits that he could have handled the situation better, but says he doesn’t want anyone to disrespect his show
Kodak goes on trial for accusations of raping a woman after a concert in 2016 next April.
Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
