JAY-Z has been criticized by former Roc-A-Fella rapper Oschino for turning his back on Beanie Sigel in his attempted murder case in the mid 2000s.
In an interview with Say Cheese, the State Property alum aired his grievances with his former label boss for refusing to vouch for Beans during the trial.
“I came to court for Beanie when he allegedly shot somebody,” Oschino recalled. “JAY-Z got on the stand and they said, ‘Are you gonna be responsible for him if we let him go?’ JAY-Z said, ‘No.’ I was there. This ain’t hearsay; this was me in the courtroom.”
He added: “I was just thinking, ‘What did he come to court for then?’ If I got a homie and all I gotta say is, ‘I’m responsible for him for him to get out,’ I’m saying it every time […] The judge was trying to give him an out. He said, ‘No.’
“And nobody didn’t say nothing, nobody flinched. Mind you, I’m a jail n-gga so I’m looking around like, ‘Nobody not saying nothing?!’ Like it was normal […] Maybe I’m too street in my thinking and maybe he was being more responsible, but I was thinking, ‘Man, these boys is different.'”
Watch his comments at the 13:15 mark below.
Beanie Sigel was charged with attempted murder in July 2003 for allegedly firing six shots at a man during an argument outside of a Philadelphia bar. One of the bullets struck the victim in the foot and another in the stomach.
The first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury were deadlocked after five days of deliberating. It was during this trial that JAY-Z appeared on the witness stand.
The “Feel it in the Air” rapper was retried in 2005 and walked free after being acquitted of all charges.
“I think the jury flat-out didn’t believe the victim and the eyewitness,” Sigel’s lawyer Fortunato N. Perri Jr. said of the verdict. “They thought they were lying, that they put a story together, to ultimately end up in a payday for themselves.”
Beans himself addressed Hov’s actions during the trial on Drink Champs in 2021, admitting it fractured their relationship and left him feeling hurt.
“I’ve never been crushed like that ever in my life,” he said. “‘Cause I’m like, ‘Damn, this is my man’ […] That fucked me up. That took away a lot of shit that I thought we had. Like, that’s big bro.”
He also acknowledged that, in hindsight, Hov had his reasons: “I believe at that time, Jay was thinking that I was unpredictable. I was bugging. I know I was out of pocket. I was uncontrollable.”
Imagine being mad at your boss because he won’t take responsibility for your actions if released…
imagine your boss founded the company/company on “familia”, and then left his “family” to rot without any prior indication…silly goats.
This ain’t it bro. When you get to a certain place in your life, a place that you truly value, a smart man or woman will let nobody jeopardize it. Thinking the name of your record label matters in the grand scheme of things is crazy. Jay actually did try to pull Beans out of the streets but Beans resisted. He has admitted this. At some point, as an adult, you gotta see the error in YOUR ways, not someone else’s all the time.
You’re a fool. Beans was out of line, and Jay did the right thing. He gave that man an opportunity to change his life and he blew it. Then turned around and dissed the man who tried to change his life. That’s a big problem for some of you clowns: no accountability. Familia means WE, not YOU AND THE CHOICES YOUR FRAGILE EGO MAKE. Goofy…
Where tf was his actual family, bro?
How can you vouch for somebody you know you can’t control?
Why was Jay supposed to be responsible for some thug addict like Beanie?
You can respect Jays choice without bashing beans…..I’m sure Jay wanted the best for beans but that doesn’t mean he was willing to put himself in a situation where beans actions could affect his well being . Its also completely understandable that Beans never looked at him the same for not stepping up when he felt he needed him most. It’s a sad situation but at the end of the day its personal business between two grown men , everyones always got something to say .
This is so old, Beans was originally mad about this before he matured and realized that situation was on him. The song “why I love you” off watch the throne is about his relationship with beans.
King Tekashi would neva turn on da homie lyk Jay did. Dat wat happen wen u live by dat code.
This blew up back in the late 00’s, with 50 using Beans to get at Jay and Jay saying shit like “I taught them about fish scale, they want me to fish for them. they want me to catch clean and cook up a dish for them” on BP3 and then the beef was squashed shortly after.
Slow news day when we look to the opinion people who were never relevant to rehash some shit that nobody has cared about for like 12-15 years.
Why the fuck would Jay Z be responsible for a grown ass man that he had been trying to let the streets go and get the bag. Oschino is bitter as hell and still searching for a bag don’t be mad cause Jay has elevated himself into billionaire status and moved on, everybody can’t take that ride with you that’s apparent.