Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five’s Melle Mel has been arrested and charged with domestic violence after physically abusing a woman. The late-1970s and 1980s emcee responsible for the groundbreaking single ‘The Message’ is now shrouded in controversy as LA police have confirmed he aggressively beat his partner on June 26th.
Following the BET Awards, the New York lyricist (real name Melvin Glover) attended an afterparty with Jori Jordon, with whom Glover left. According to the plaintiff, she returned to his hotel following the event. However, when asked to leave, she did not. According to Jordon, Glover aggressively pushed her and punched her in the eye.
Jori swiftly reported Glover to the LAPD, and shortly after, the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department arrested the rapper and charged him with felony domestic violence. His bail was set at $50,000, and he is now free, awaiting a court hearing on July 17th.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, the emcee asserted he did nothing wrong, explaining, “It’s very simple. She said I punched her in the eye. She also said she had eye surgery a month ago. Had I punched her in the eye, especially with rings on, she would have had a cut eye.”
He continued, “It would have been way worse. Something did happen to her eye, but I did not punch her. With me tussling with her and trying to get her away from me to get her out of the room, something happened.”
However, Jori told a different story to outlets, claiming, “I’m just sitting there, chilling[and] next thing you know, this man just goes ‘whack’ with four rings on his finger and hits me in my eye!” She insists that Glover could have left her blind had he punched her harder.
This is not the first member of the Furious Five to land themselves in legal issues. Last year, Kidd Creole was sentenced to 16 years in prison for manslaughter after the killing of a homeless man in New York City.
