Desiigner’s Lawyer Reveals What Led Up to In-Flight Masturbation
The rapper known as Desiigner suffered a pair of manic episodes in the run-up to his April arrest for masturbating aboard a commercial flight, and an inadvertent encounter with some “laced” weed was partially to blame, according to his lawyer.
After the onetime Kanye West protégé, whose real name is Sidney Royel Selby III, was charged with exposing himself—and much, much more—while flying Delta Air Lines from Tokyo to Minneapolis, he issued an apology saying he had been hospitalized while overseas but did not say where or why.
“They gave me meds, and i had to hop on a plane home,” Selby wrote. “I am ashamed of my actions that happened on that plane. I landed back to the states, and am admitting my self [sic] in a facility to help me. I will be cancelling all of my shows and any obligations until further notice.”
However, a sentencing memo filed by Ryan Patrick Garry, who has represented the “Panda” rapper throughout the case, reveals further details about the 26-year-old’s mental state in the days prior to the mid-air episode.
Selby, who pleaded guilty Sept. 8 to indecent exposure aboard an aircraft, was in the midst of “an exhausting music tour,” the memo states. On Apr. 12, while in Thailand, a “dehydrated and exhausted” Selby “had a manic episode, which was likely due the stress of the tour and some unknown laced marijuana he smoked the night before,” it goes on. “During the manic episode, he asked his team to be taken to the hospital.”
Selby was taken to a local emergency room, where staffers administered IV fluids “and three other medications,” according to the memo, which says doctors “believed Mr. Selby was suffering from, amongst other things, marijuana intoxication and dehydration. Though exhausted, he recovered enough to be able to perform at a concert the next day.”
After the performance in Thailand, Selby and his crew flew to Tokyo for another concert, the memo continues.
“At a restaurant in Tokyo, Mr. Selby suffered a similar but milder manic episode, yet he managed to perform that night in Tokyo due to the already booked concert,” it says. “Mr. Selby was flying home to California on April 17, 2023 when the unfortunate incident in this case took place.”
It began less than 90 minutes after takeoff, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the federal complaint against Selby. That’s when a flight attendant walking through the first class cabin “noticed Selby’s penis was outside his sweatpants.” She told him, “No,” and Selby promptly put his junk away, the affidavit states. Five minutes later, the flight attendant and a colleague both spotted Selby openly masturbating in his seat. One of them again told Selby, “No,” and he “covered his penis,” according to the affidavit. But when Selby was caught with his genitalia exposed a third time, the lead flight attendant handed him an FAA violation card, which said his actions were in violation of federal law.
Selby apologized and agreed to move to the back of the plane, where two members of his tour staff were sitting and could monitor him.
“When Selby initially stood up to move seats, a jar of Vaseline dropped in the aisle,” the affidavit states.
In a subsequent interview with the FBI, Selby said he found one of the flight attendants aboard the plane to be a “real great beautiful lady,” while lamenting the fact he “didn’t really get much… cootie” in Japan. As a result, Selby told agents he was “brick hard” when he boarded the aircraft, according to the affidavit. He said he didn’t think his masturbating distracted the flight attendant he found attractive, but said, instead, “I thought I was giving her encouragement, to keep pushing, you know what I mean, to keep striving for it.”
Selby insisted at the time that he hadn’t taken any sort of medication before getting on the flight, only vitamins, and the affidavit says he “did not appear [...] to be impaired” and gave “coherent responses” throughout.
The charge to which Selby pleaded is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum of 90 days in jail. In their own sentencing memo, prosecutors said they and Selby’s team had agreed to a sentence of two years of probation, a fine of $5,000, and 120 hours of community service. His conduct “caused negative real-world effects on the flight attendants who witnessed his actions, in their workplace, where they should be kept safe,” prosecutors said. Two years of court supervision would give Selby the structure he needs to get well, and deter him from offending again, according to the memo.
The sentencing memo filed by Selby’s lawyer notes that his client was nominated for a Grammy in 2017, and that he has performed around the world. And, it says, despite “having a rocky start to his pretrial release, Mr. Selby has been actively getting the help he needs.”
“Not meaning to, in any way, discount Mr. Selby’s acceptance of responsibility, it is certainly mitigating to this case that his dehydration, exhaustion from the music tour and travel, the marijuana he had ingested, and the medication he received and consumed from the Thailand hospital, all in combination, contributed in some way to the poor decisions Mr. Selby made on that airplane,” the defense memo states.
Selby has tours planned for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024, including dates in Dubai and Kazakhstan, the memo continues, asking the court not to include travel restrictions in the terms of his probation.
A sentencing date has not yet been set. Selby’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
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