Rapper New Champ apologizes for 'joke' saying he turned himself in for drugs

Rapper New Champ apologized after falsely stating that he turned himself in to the police on Saturday for using illegal drugs.

Rapper New Champ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Rapper New Champ apologized after falsely stating that he turned himself in to the police on Saturday for using illegal drugs.

Local media on Friday reported that a rapper in their 30s turned themselves in for using illegal drugs and that this rapper is currently under investigation. New Champ subsequently made a comment on an Instagram post sharing the news, implying that he was the unnamed rapper.

“I turned myself in because people called me a gimmick who didn’t even do drugs,” the comment read, referring to people who accused him of using drug-related lyrics to attract attention even though he hasn't used drugs, in his song "Da Mugeotta," which when translated means "ate it all." “I’m not a gimmick anymore. It was good, though.”

Following backlash online, however, he apologized the following day, saying that his comment was a "joke."

“My childish judgment became a disgusting joke,” he said on his Instagram. “I apologize [for my behavior]. I now know that such jokes shouldn’t be made. I truly thought everyone would receive it as a joke, but now I know that was not the case.”

He continued, “I feel pathetic for not knowing that such a comment I wrote just for fun would become this big of an issue. I have not done any illegal drugs.”

New Champ debuted in 2013 as a rapper and appeared on Mnet’s hip-hop competition show “Show Me the Money 3” in 2014.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]