Rapper E-40 alleged racial bias following his ejection from a playoff game between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings on Saturday and called on the Kings to investigate the incident.
The ejection followed a verbal altercation between the rapper and another person attending the game. Video shows E-40, the Vallejo native whose name is Earl Stevens, being removed not by an arena security team member but by a man wearing credentials (opens in new tab) around his neck and a shirt with a Warriors logo on it.
In a statement (opens in new tab) released Sunday, E-40 said that he “addressed the heckler in an assertive but polite manner” before a Kings’ security team member told him to leave the game. E-40 said the security guard approached him shortly after the exchange and assumed that he had instigated it.
“Unfortunately, it was another reminder that—despite my success and accolades as a musician and entrepreneur—racial bias remains prevalent,” E-40 said in the statement. “Security saw a disagreement between a Black man and a white woman and immediately assumed that I was at fault.”
The Kings said in a statement to ESPN that they “take these claims seriously and are investigating the facts and circumstances regarding the situation, as we do anytime an accusation like this is made.”
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The Kings’ 126-123 victory over the Warriors was Sacramento’s first playoff win in 17 years. Point guard De’Aaron Fox scored a game-high 38 points for the Kings, while Malik Monk added 32 off the bench.