Meek Mill cancelled his scheduled trip to the White House to discuss prison reform on Friday.
The 31-year-old rapper – who was sentenced to two to four years in prison five months ago after he violated the terms of his parole stemming from a drug and weapons conviction in 2008 – was granted bail last month, and was supposed to attend the Prison Reform Summit held by President Donald Trump on Friday.
However, after receiving calls from various high-profile stars including Jay-Z, the rapper decided to cancel his trip, as he believes his presence may have ‘taken away’ from the importance of the meeting.
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Cancelled: Meek Mill cancelled his scheduled trip to the White House to discuss prison reform on Friday. The rap artist was snapped last summer in Las Vegas
Speaking to TMZ, Meek said: ‘I was originally scheduled to be part of a panel on Prison Reform at the White House to help shed light on the issues within the system. Unfortunately, the focus turned to the President and Myself which concerned me that it might take away from creating a positive result from today’s discussions.
‘As a result, I decided not to attend so that the focus would be solely on fixing our prison system. Most importantIy I remain fully committed to improving our criminal justice system.’
Previously, the ‘All Eyes on You’ hitmaker had said he was ‘humbled’ to be in a position to help those behind bars, and wanted to make a positive impact during the meeting in Washington D.C.
He gave a statement to journalist Roland Martin, who shared it on Twitter in a post which read: ‘When I was released from prison, I promised to use my platform to give a voice to the voiceless and I’m humbled to have the chance to do that at the White House #prisonreform
‘This meeting isn’t about supporting individual or political parties. My goal is to share my story with our country’s top lawmakers, so we can continue the conversation around criminal justice #prisonreform
‘reform and unite to fix a broken system. Together, we have a special opportunity to produce positive change. #prisonreform (sic)’
Change of heart: Meek had previously said he was ‘humbled’ to speak on the topic in the nation’s capital
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