E-40 says 'racial bias' led to Kings-Warriors game removal

Rapper E-40 removed from Kings-Warriors game, cites ‘racial bias’

E-40 wears sunglasses, a white-and-red jacket and a white hat inside a basketball arena

April 16, 2023 2:55 PM PT

Bay Area rapper and longtime Warriors fan E-40 released a statement this weekend denouncing “racial bias” after security removed him from an NBA playoff game Saturday night between the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors.

Video footage from the event shows E-40 interacting courtside with security guards who proceed to escort him out of Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center. After the rapper spoke out, the Kings told The Times the team takes “these claims seriously” and is “investigating the facts and circumstances regarding the situation, as we do anytime an accusation like this is made.”

In a statement obtained Sunday by the Associated Press, E-40 said that other attendees heckled him throughout the game. The “Choices” artist, whose real name is Earl Stevens, added that he engaged with one heckler “in an assertive but polite manner” before security kicked him out of the arena.

In a clip shared on Twitter, multiple crowd members can be seen waving and shouting at E-40 as security guards force him to leave his courtside seats.

“Unfortunately, it was yet another reminder that — despite my success and accolades as a musician and entrepreneur — racial bias remains prevalent,” E-40 said in a statement.

“Security saw a disagreement between a Black man and a white woman and immediately assumed that I was at fault.”