Five years after bursting onto the global stage with Old Town Road, Grammy-winning rapper Lil Nas X is facing the darkest chapter of his public life. The 26-year-old, born Montero Hill, is now facing multiple felony charges after a shocking incident in Los Angeles — and his father, Robert Stafford, is speaking out.
Felony Charges and a Public Meltdown
Last week, Lil Nas X was filmed wandering the streets of Los Angeles wearing only cowboy boots and underwear. The footage quickly went viral. He was later arrested and charged with three felony counts of battery on a police officer and one felony count of resisting an executive officer. Before being booked, he was hospitalised due to a suspected overdose.
Hill, who denies the charges, was released on $75,000 bail under the condition he attend drug treatment. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
“The Price of Fame”
Speaking to The Times, Hill’s father — gospel singer Robert Stafford — said the intense pressures of fame and family responsibility contributed to his son’s breakdown.
“I understand how the music business is. It’s like a high,” Stafford said. “When you get to that level, you want that drug again, you want to hit that high again.”
Stafford spoke about the emotional weight his son has carried: being the main provider for his family, the struggle to recreate past success, and the pain of his mother’s ongoing battle with addiction.
“For a 26-year-old to have to deal with what he’s dealing with … to be a breadwinner for a lot of people, the inability to change his mother’s situation and the pressure he puts on himself…” he explained.
A Father’s Pain
After the arrest, Stafford flew to Los Angeles to visit his son in jail. Seeing him behind glass was almost too much to bear.
“As soon as I walked through that door, I couldn’t do anything but cry,” he recalled. “To see my baby boy on the other side of that glass. We shed tears with each other for a minute. And I had to tell him that ‘what you’re going through is normal.’”
He defended his son, pointing out that everyone has moments of crisis — but for celebrities, those moments happen under intense public scrutiny.
“We all have breakdowns every now and then, but the difference is, yours get played out in the public eye.”
A Tearful Apology
Despite his own distress, Lil Nas X was thinking about his fans. During their visit, Stafford said his son expressed deep remorse for how he’d been seen.
“When I went to visit, he asked me to say, ‘Tell everybody I’m sorry they saw me like that,’” he said. “Even in that moment, he was apologising to people for something he was going through.”
Stafford said watching the footage of the arrest was heartbreaking.
“That’s not even him,” he said. “I knew he was suffering.”
As Lil Nas X prepares to face the legal system and continue his recovery, those close to him are hoping the world will extend understanding — and compassion — to a young artist navigating the brutal cost of fame.
