Blueface Responds After Mike Epps’ Comments On Celebrating Prison Releases
Blueface is weighing in on Mike Epps’ recent comments about folks celebrating prison releases, and let’s just say the rapper is not feeling it at ALL. The whole situation has social media split down the middle, especially since it follows Epps’ earlier comments about SNAP benefits.
For more related tea, check out our coverage on similar celebrity reactions here.
In case you missed it, comedian and actor Mike Epps has been in the hot seat after people felt like he was coming at the community sideways. First, he addressed the Trump administration allegedly “cutting off food stamps,” and then he followed it up with some pointed commentary about folks celebrating men coming home from prison.
This second wave of backlash started when Epps appeared on the November 16 episode of Jim Jones’ podcast Artist 2 Artist. During the convo, he said:
“Those are the wrong journeys to celebrate, young men. There’s no reward after coming home after 30 years. You don’t get no fing care package, na. You’re a failure. Get your a** out here and help these kids. Pay that back forward. You see what I’m saying? That’s the reward.
I got nas all the time [who] come straight home, [and] if I don’t do what they want me to do for them, I’m a sellout. I’m a sucker a na. I done did the whole bid with them. I done been to Walmart a hundred times, JPaying, meeting guards, doing all kinds of sht I ain’t supposed to be doing fing with you, n*a.”
Jim Jones cut in, saying: “As soon as you say no one time…” Epps finished with: “They done forgot about the other 99 times you said, ‘Yes.’”
Epps Tries To Clear The Air With An IG Apology
By Monday (November 24), Mike Epps clearly felt the heat. He hopped on Instagram with a two-minute video trying to explain himself and smooth things over. He captioned the post:
“Thanks for you ear. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Brothers that come home and change their lives need to be celebrated.”
Then he followed up in the video, saying:
“What’s up, y’all? It’s your man, Mike Epps, man. I just want to get on here and clarify and clear a few things up. Number one, about the brothers coming home from prison being celebrated. I’ve always been a part of reform. I got brothers right now from my hometown that I’m trying to help come home. They’ve been in prison forever.
I think you guys might have misunderstood what I was saying. I might have said it the wrong way. But, what I was trying to say is: we don’t want to send kids mixed messages about coming home from prison, being celebrated — feeling like you got to go to prison and do 30, 40 years to be celebrated. I think you guys misunderstood that, misunderstood what I said.
I wasn’t saying that it was wrong to be celebrated, but we don’t want to send a kids saying, ‘Prison is great,’ or that, ‘You want to go do 30 years and come home.’ I don’t think that’s cool. So, I’m sorry if anybody took it the wrong way and got offended. I love my brothers. I’ve been incarcerated myself. I understand what that is. But, I might’ve said it the wrong way. But, I mean well, and I love you brothers. Free my brothers that’s coming home. My man Derrick. Free all the guys that’s coming home, man.”
Then he clarified his food stamp take:
“And about the food stamp thing. The food stamp thing was misunderstood too. What I was saying is: is that we need to break the cycle of being on food stamps. There’s three generations of people that have been on food stamps: grandmother, mother, and daughter. That’s crazy. We got to do better. We can’t think that we need assistance. I know there’s some people out there that need assistance. That’s well, fine, and understood. But, there’s people out there taking advantage of the system that’s not good. So, just want to apologize if I offended anybody. You know I love y’all, man, and keep on doing the right thing. Peace.”
It was the classic “my bad, y’all misunderstood me,” but you could tell he wasn’t expecting the blowback to hit this hard.
Blueface Fires Back And Says Epps Should “Stay In Your Place”
Now here’s where things get spicy. Blueface slid onto his Instagram Stories to respond. And judging by the energy, he wasn’t trying to be polite.
While Blueface didn’t go on super long rant, the message was clear and sharp. He basically told Mike Epps to stay in his lane and stop pushing narratives that make life harder for men coming home from tough situations.
This is exactly the kind of back-and-forth that sparks bigger conversations in the culture. Some folks feel like Epps had a point but said it wrong. Others feel like his comments were unnecessary, out of touch, or unfair to people who are genuinely trying to rebuild after incarceration.
Either way, Blueface wasn’t letting that slide without chiming in.