Tom Wood
Desiigner will now be made to sign the sex offender register as part of his punishment for exposing himself to flight attendants aboard a flight from Japan to the US.
The Grammy-nominated rapper was sentenced to community service, a large fine, and two years of probation for his actions aboard a flight from Tokyo to Minneapolis.
Desiigner, really name Sidney Selby III, pleaded guilty to charges of misdemeanour indecent conduct for his actions aboard the Delta Air Lines flight.
Selby was returning from his tour in Asia on 17 April when he exposed himself to several members of flight crew.
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According to his attorney, the musician - best known for his debut hit ‘Panda’ which was the Billboard Hot 100 topper in 2016 - was hampered by a mixture of things, including: “Dehydration, exhaustion from the music tour and travel, the marijuana he ingested, and the medication he received from [a] Thailand hospital.”
Defense attorney Ryan Garry added: “[These factors] all in combination, contributed in some way to the poor decisions Mr. Selby made on that airplane.”
Prosecutors acknowledged Selby’s mental health and substance misuse issues, but made it abundantly clear that Selby’s ‘conduct aboard the flight caused negative real-world effects on the flight attendants who witnessed his actions in the workplace, where they should be kept safe’.
They also noted that Selby was banned from flying with Scandinavian Airlines after a journey in 2018 during which he ‘behaved in a threatening manner toward the crew’.
His conduct on that flight was so concerning that staff deemed it necessary to ‘put hands on him’.
The complaint against Desiigner said that 90 minutes after take-off the musician exposed himself, before being told ‘no’ by one flight attendant after she saw him.
He covered up, but five minutes later that same member of staff and a colleague saw that he’d exposed himself again.
The second attendant told him off, and he covered over again.
Then, just seconds later he exposed himself for a third time, after which she gave him a card that stated that his behavior ‘appears to be in violation of federal law’.
Selby apologized, and was directed to the back of the plane, where two of his travel companions were seated and agreed to look after him.
He also apologized to the staff as he left the plane.
After being detained, Selby reportedly told an FBI agent that he was returning from Japan and ‘didn’t really get much’ sex, exposing himself after becoming aroused by a flight attendant.
Then, he acknowledged that he’d repeated the act.
In sentencing, Selby was given two years of probation, a fine of $500,000, and ordered to perform 120 hours of community service.
He will be prohibited from owning a firearm during the period of his probation, as well as undergoing drug and psychological testing.