French Montana has been threatened with legal action over the shooting in Miami last week that left 10 people injured on the set of his music video.
The Bronx rapper was reportedly at The Licking restaurant in Miami Gardens, Florida shooting a video with rapper Rob49 when gunshots rang out and injured at least 10 people – including Rob. Four victims were airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center, with one of them listed in critical condition.
So far, no deaths have been reported, but French now faces a potential lawsuit from one of the victims. The attorney of 25-year-old music blogger Carl Leon told NBC 6 Miami that he plans to file suit on behalf of his client.
Attorney Josiah Graham said that his client was invited to the video shoot and that gunshots went off during a pause between takes.
“Sometime during the break of one of the scenes, that’s when he heard gunshots,” Graham said. “He didn’t know what happened, like everyone else. He took off running. As he’s running, he fell at some point. When he gets up, he discovers he’s been shot.”
Leon had reportedly been shot in the hand and stomach, and was transported to a local hospital, with Graham claiming that his client was “literally less than an inch away from sure death.” Leon was discharged on Sunday night (January 8).
Graham then confirmed that he is investigating the Coke Boyz leader himself, noting that “there was no permit issued by the Miami Gardens Police Department for any type of authorized rap video.”
“French Montana, yes, we are looking into him,” he said. “Because it’s our understanding that he had an unauthorized video shoot at Finger Licking, so, we’re looking into that.”
Leon echoed his attorney’s sentiment and said he was lucky to be alive.
“You know, everyone was dropping but I ran, and I didn’t notice I got hit in my hand until like afterwards when everything finished and I was looking, and I seen blood dripping,” he recalled. “If I stood there for another five seconds, you know, looking for somebody, I would’ve got hit in the head.”
Cellphone footage showed French Montana and Rob49 filming a video together in the back of a car outside the restaurant prior to the shooting. The two rappers have a new collaboration called “Igloo” on French’s new mixtape Coke Boys 6, although it’s unclear if that’s what music video was being shot.
Rob’s condition at this time is still unknown, but French issued a heartfelt statement offering “thoughts and prayers” to the victims following the shooting.
“Last night, I was in Miami celebrating the release of my CB6 mixtape w/ friends at a local restaurant,” he wrote on Twitter. “We unfortunately were at the wrong place, at the wrong time when an incident took place that left people hurt. Our thoughts & prayers are w/ the victims & families at this time.”
Coke Boys 6 arrived on Friday (January 6) in two different versions. The “classic version” contains 20 tracks with appearances from Benny The Butcher, A$AP Rocky, Kodak Black, EST Gee, Vory, Jeremih, the late Chinx and more.
The Money Heist Edition features an additional nine tracks from up-and-coming artists such as Kenzo B, Mr. Chicken, LGP QUA, YNP Maine and more.
