Rap Legend Flavor Flav Had His 'Spirit Broken' Over Security Issue At Rockefeller Tree Lighting Ceremony

An alleged security incident at last night’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting caused rap superstar Flavor Flav to have his “spirit broken” over the confrontation.

In a now-deleted tweet, the Public Enemy hype man accused NBC of attempting to remove him from the Backstreet Boys’ dressing room while simultaneously asking him to help create content for their social media feeds.

Flav, as his fans often refer to him, relayed his side of the supposed incident at the Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday evening.

“I feel weird,” he began.

“I was invited to the Rockefeller tree lighting tonight and I was escorted to see my boys, the Backstreet Boys,” Flav noted.

“We were backstage in [their] dressing room. Security came up to me and [said] NBC does not want me in this area and I need to leave. At the same time, their social media woman came up and asked to capture social content.”

“Whatever did I ever do to NBC or anyone?” the heartbroken rapper asked, adding:

“All I ever do is try to spread joy and love, and I think I did that for NBC at the Olympics.”

As Complex notes, the entertainer, born William Jonathan Drayton Jr., was a highlight at this year’s Summer Olympics, where he cheered on the U.S. Women’s Polo Team as both a fan and their sponsor.

Flav would ultimately think twice about leaving the tweet on his feed - but expressed his continued disappointment in a follow-up.

“I deleted the tweet but my spirit is broken,” he wrote.

As the night went on, Flav posted multiple clips of him enjoying his time at the Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting. This caused some to believe that, to some degree, the security matter had been resolved.

Still, fans of Flav inquired why the Backstreet Boys, the guests of honor at the event, hadn’t stepped up to defend him at that moment – an assumption he quickly set right.

“[The Backstreet Boys] spoke up for me,” Flav told a fan on X. “They sure did.”

As proof, photos taken of Flav with the legendary boyband were posted to the rapper’s Instagram profile. He also shared snaps of himself with Jack Barakat, the guitarist of All Time Low, who Flav considers a good friend.

Flav’s participation at the annual holiday event is the latest show of what some have christened the “Flav Renaissance,” an upswing display of support and appreciation for the star.

Now 65 years old and far removed from the many troubles that plagued his life and career – which he partially attributes to being sober for the past four years - the emcee embraces every privilege he’s been given as one of the most recognizable stars of multiple eras.

“I’m really having a lot of fun with my life right now,” Flav told CNN earlier this year.

“When people see me, [they] see me as this real big huge star - like bigger than King Kong, but to me, I’m not that size," he said at the time. "I’m only this human size, you know? You gotta keep it humble. You [have to] wake up every day knowing that life ain’t promised to you.”

Though most associate Flav with ‘80s and’ '90s hip-hop, he has never shied away from his eclectic music tastes and appreciation of artists from other genres.

Nowadays, it’s not surprising to see Flav hanging out on the Eras Tour with Billboard queen Taylor Swift, embracing Billie Eilish at an awards show, or freaking out over the possibility of meeting Cher – all things he has done just recently.

“You know, the world has a lot of love for Public Enemy. And there’s a lot of young artists that have a lot of love for Flavor Flav as well,” he notes. “So, what I’m doing is I’m just embracing all of that and their music as well. I’m just trying to keep up with what’s going on.”

You might want to educate yourself. It’s FLAVOR FLAV,,, classically trained pianist who plays 15 instruments,,, lectures at Harvard,,, and most recently carried the US Olympic Water Polo team. To get a small piece of recognition for my contributions this year is a GREAT honor. Again,,, what did you?

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— FLAVOR FLAV ⏰ (@flavorflav.bsky.social) November 25, 2024 at 11:14 PM

As if his continued career with Public Enemy, sponsorship of an Olympic team, and being a proud Swiftie aren’t enough, Flav has recently taken on another title that fans bestowed upon him: Social Media Welcome Committee.

As many move from X to Bluesky, an alternative to the Elon Musk-owned app, the rapper has assisted followers in keeping up with his close celebrity friends who have also joined the new online community.

“I can't even explain how stupidly happy it makes me that everyone here knows Flavor Flav is the REAL verification system right now,” a fellow Bluesky user recently expressed.