Marion 'Suge' Knight charged with threatening director of the film 'Straight Outta Compton'
Former rap impresario Marion “Suge†Knight faces a new criminal charge accusing him of threatening to harm the director of the hit movie “Straight Outta Compton.â€
Knight, 52, appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Thursday and pleaded not guilty to a grand jury indictment accusing him of threatening death or bodily injury against director F. Gary Gray on Aug. 8, 2014. As he walked into the courtroom, Knight smiled at his family seated in the front row, including his son, who wore a T-shirt that read, “FREE SUGE.â€
Gray’s film is a biopic about N.W.A, a seminal rap group from the early days of the genre. Knight, who is depicted in the movie, is from Compton and was an influential figure i n the city’s rap movement in the 1980s and ’90s. After the fall of N.W.A, Knight co-founded Death Row Records with one of the group’s founding members, Dr. Dre.
The 2014 threat, according to the indictment, “was so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate and specific as to convey to Felix Gary Gray a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution.†The victim, the indictment reads, experienced “sustained fear†for his safety and the safety of his family.
Knight’s attorney, Matthew Fletcher, told reporters after the hearing he’d yet to review discovery materials in the case, but he thinks the threat charge stems from a text message sent to Gray.
Fletcher recalled the message, acknowledging he was paraphrasing, as saying: “You have family. I have family. We all need to eat. God bless you.†Fletcher also said he thinks the text came from a phone that did not belong to his client.
Asked at a news conference about claims that Knight was frustrated over his portrayal in the movie, Toi-Lin Kelly, his fiancée, shook her head.
“He’s never even seen the movie,†she said. “It was more about his likeness was being used without being compensated for it.â€
Kelly added that she’s been with Knight for more than 12 years and that he “doesn’t send threatening texts.â€
In the movie, Knight â€" played by actor R. Marcos Taylor â€" is portrayed as a powerful and often menacing figure. During a scene inside a recording studio, Knight threatens rapper Eazy-E and then watches as two men beat him up. In another scene, Knight repeatedly pistol whips a man for taking his parking spot.
The new charge is the latest in a long history of legal troubles for Knight, who also faces murder and attempted murder charges after a dispute during the filming of a commercial for “Straight Outta Compton†months after the alleged threat.
In that case, Knight is accused of barreling his red truck into two men in the parking lot of a Compton burger stand in late January 2015, killing 55-year-old Terry Carter and injuring Cle "Bone" Sloan. Footage from a security camera shows Knight â€" who has pleaded not guilty and says he acted in self-defense â€" plowing his truck into the men. Knight fled the scene, but later turned himself in.
Knight â€" who was out on bail at the time of the fatal hit-and-run â€" is also charged in a separate robbery case. The former rap mogul will return to court Aug. 10 in the latest case.
For more news from the Los Angeles County courts, follow me on Twitter: @marisagerber
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UPDATES:
3:50 p.m.: This article was updated with details about Knight’s portrayal in the movie.
12:45 p.m.: This article was updated with details from the indictment and comments from Knight’s attorney and fiancée.
This article was originally published at 9:35 a.m.
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