Canadian rapper Drake is facing a court order to either sit for a deposition or appear in court in connection with the ongoing murder trial of XXXTentacion.
Due to a feud between Drake and the late rapper born Jahseh Onfroy, who was shot and killed five years ago, defense attorney Mauricio Padilla alleged Drake is connected to XXX’s death.
In an effort to solidify that claim, the judge tried to subpoena the ‘Certified Lover Boy’ rapper last month. But according to a court document obtained by Billboard, Drake failed to appear on the scheduled deposition date, 27 January, 2023.
He is now being ordered to appear for a deposition on 24 February via Zoom video. If he fails to appear again, he would be held in contempt.
Prosecutors have never claimed that Drake whose real name Aubrey Graham was involved in XXXTentacion’s death.
Instead, they’ve argued that XXX was killed in June 2018 during a robbery outside a motorcycle store that quickly escalated to violence.
The theory that Graham is somehow connected to Onfroy’s death comes from Mauricio Padilla, a defense attorney for one of the three suspects, Dedrick Williams.
Williams, along with Michael Boatwright and Trayvon Newsome, pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charges.
The order, obtained by Rolling Stone, states that because Graham failed to appear for the deposition at the end of January, he “shall appear for a deposition” on Friday, 24 February.
It continues: “If deponent Aubrey Drake Graham does not appear to deposition he must appear before this court on Monday February 27, 2023 at 10 a.m. EST at so [sic] the court can determine why he should not be held in contempt.”
Along with trying to get Graham to participate in a deposition, Padilla referenced the alleged feud between the two musicians in his opening arguments on 7 February.
Specifically, he cited a social media post from Onfroy in February 2018 that read: “If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi [Drake’s Instagram handle]. I’m snitching right now.”
Onfroy, however, deleted that post — as well as a few other incendiary posts — and wrote: “Please stop entertaining that bullshit on Twitter. My accounts were previously hacked.”