DeAndre Cortez Way, known by the stage name Soulja Boy, was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm on Sunday.
A representative from the Los Angeles Police Department tells Entertainment Weekly that the “Crank That” rapper was riding as a passenger in a car that was pulled over near the intersection of Melrose Ave. and Genesee Ave. in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles around 2:50 a.m. Officers allegedly recovered a firearm after searching the vehicle, though LAPD would not disclose why the traffic stop was initially conducted.
Inmate records show that Way was booked on a felony charge at 6:18 a.m. Representatives for Way did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly‘s request for comment.
Earlier that night, Way celebrated his 35th birthday at Hollywood’s Poppy nightclub. He shared the details of the bash with his 7 million Instagram followers with a story post captioned, “Who’s sliding with me?” In subsequent stories, Way showed off the packed dance floor and posed in a selfie video with the caption, “I don’t need no security.”
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He’d premiered new music that afternoon on a Twitch stream, tied in with the February release of his most recent album, The Influence.
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Sunday’s arrest marks another controversy among several Way has recently faced.
In April, Way was found liable for assault, sexual battery, and several other claims in a civil suit brought by his former personal assistant and romantic partner. He was ordered to pay more than $4 million in compensatory damages, and may be assigned additional punitive damages during the next phase of the trial, which resulted from a suit brought over four years ago.
In February, the feud between way and actor Marlon Wayans reached an ugly head when the rapper published a series of cruel and vindictive social media posts targeting Wayans’ transgender son, Kai.
“You know you can get cancelled for transphobic slander like this,” Wayans replied. Shortly thereafter, Way deleted the posts and apologized to Wayans for “crashing out,” but then proceeded to defend the posts as a valid response to Wayans “dissing” him in an interview.
